See You Again
by Lighting.Up.Thee.Sky
Summary: After her father announces his holiday trip to Europe, Musa finds herself in a bind of loneliness and wishing for a Christmas miracle. Right whens she thinks she will be alone for the holidays, Riven's (Musa's ex-boyfriend) mother invites her to spend Christmas with them. As luck has it for Musa, Riven cancels his business trip and flies home to surprise his family for the holiday.
1. Chapter I

I got this story idea from another story that I read along time ago (Not Winx Club). However, I am recreating the story and making it an original. And I created this because I'm in the Christmas spirit (I know it's only May) but... Here you go!

* * *

"You're going to Europe? Just the two of you," Musa had wonderful hearing, but the words that poured out of her father's mouth didn't seem plausible. She paused, staring at her father, questioning if she heard him right.

When he nodded his head yes, she felt all life absconded from her body. "But we spend every Christmas together." Musa narrowed her eyes at her father and his new girlfriend.

"Musa, I think it's time Shelia and I get away. We got great deals on these tickets and another couple from work are going with us. They don't have children and I only have you. But you're at that age where you don't want to spend Christmas with your dear old father. Besides you can spend Christmas with Andy."

Musa stared at her father and nodded her head. She didn't have the heart to tell her father that she had broken up with Andy two weeks ago. He wasn't ready for a commitment and she wasn't ready to be strung along once again.

"Yeah, you're right," Musa nodded her head. She swallowed down the lump that was resting in her throat. She took a deep breath and hid the tears that were forming in the corner of her eyes. Covering her frown with a smile, Musa continued to say, "I'll do that instead. I hope you two enjoy your trip. Look dad, I should go. I need to go buy Andy a Christmas gift anyways," Musa leaned forward to give her father a hug.

"You're procrastinating to buy a Christmas present? I'm surprised. When you dated that boy Riven, you had his Christmas presents bought months in advance."

Musa felt her heart tug at that name. Her father always had bad timing when it came to anything. "I just haven't found the perfect gift yet dad. I should get going though, I'll see you later. I love you," Musa leaned in for a hug. When her father hugged her, she closed her eyes, refusing the tears that threatened to fall.

"See ya later honey," He waved goodbye as she relied on her legs to get her far away from their situation. If he was going somewhere for Christmas, that would mean she would be all alone for the holidays. Maybe she could stay with Flora or Stella?

* * *

To avoid her pretentious and chaotic life, Musa headed straight for the Spa. She booked a quick, last minute appointment. At least there she could have the knots rubbed out of her shoulders and she could blame the tears on the pressure of the masseuse and not her own unfortunate mishaps.

Musa walked into the spa, she inhaled the rejuvenating smell of green tea. She sat down on the chair and pulled out her cellular device. Dialing the appropriate number, she gave Stella a phone call.

"Musa, girl, hey," Stella cooed over the phone.

"Hey Stella," Musa breathed in. She closed her eyes and tilted her head towards the ceiling.

After being best friends since elementary school, the blonde girl always knew when something was wrong. Musa's disappointment in her voice was the signifying key there was something wrong with her.

"So want to tell me why you're calling?"

"My dad is going Europe for Christmas," Musa groaned, being brought back to the present.

"So? That would be so much fun Musa," Stella chimed. Musa groaned again, knowing that the blonde girl wasn't understanding what her big fuss was about.

"The problem is Stella, he's going without me and I'm stuck here for the holidays alone."

The girl's response on the other line was a big "Oh."

"He told me I could go spend Christmas with Andy," Musa grumbled, examining her cuticles closely with her eyes.

"That would be great but you broke up with him two weeks ago," Stella pointed out the obvious. "Does he know that?"

"No, I didn't have the heart to tell him that. He was so dead set on us getting married. Quite frankly I was too," Musa responded. "And he had already bought his tickets. I didn't want to give him the hassle of including me and he's finally getting back out there after my mom. I didn't want to ruin that for him," Musa finished her sentence. She had really grown up. If this had happened a few years ago she would have thrown the biggest fit. But now she was more concerned about her father's happiness than her own.

"Maybe you could give Andy a call and catch up with him? As much as you two fought, you did have decent chemistry."

"Yeah, but we broke up," Musa reminded her friend once again.

"I know Musa, but you did say the other day that you did miss him. I think you should give it another try. He was there when you needed him to be and that has to count for something. Besides, some company is better than no company."

"Yeah maybe, I guess I could give him a call," Musa took a deep breathe in. Yeah she could do it. She could call her ex to spend Christmas with.

"Look, Musa, if that doesn't work then come spend Christmas with Brandon and I. If you don't want to come here, I'm sure you can spend Christmas with Flora and Helia and their new baby Eloise. Either way, we aren't going to let you spend the holidays alone. Just take a deep breathe, it will all work out," Stella comforted Musa through the phone.

"You're right. I just need a Christmas miracle," Musa laughed before hanging up the phone with her best friend. Stella always knew the rights word to say in a time of crisis.

Musa dialed another familiar number and feelings of nostalgia washed over her body. "Andy, hey," Musa said coyly into the phone. She wanted to mask the nervousness that was sloshing around in her stomach, but the attempt failed. Maybe things could work out differently this time?

"Actually Andy's in the shower, can I ask who is calling?" A female voice spoke into the phone. Musa paused, unsure of what to say. She then heard Andy's familiar tone in the background yelling, "Who is on the phone babe?"

Musa forced a smile onto her face, "Actually, never mind. I'll call back late, it isn't anything important," Musa quickly hung up the phone and dropped it into her purse.

"Asshole," Musa muttered under her breath. Now she remembered why they broke up again. He was always whoring around and she was just trying to have a good relationship. Right when she wanted to swallow alone in her own hollowness, someone brought her back to reality.

"Musa, is that you?" A high pitch voice squealed.

Musa turned her head to find a woman in her forties dressed in a pant suit. It was a woman she used to know all too well. Mrs. Harrington, another one of her ex-boyfriend's mother, who had practically been her own mother when she had lost hers.

"Mrs. Harrington, how are you?" Musa smiled, quickly wiping the tears out of the corners of her eyes. She stood up, straightening out her peacoat and leaned in for a hug. She hugged Mrs. Harrington tightly. The same aura of Chanel 5 filled her nostrils as it did three years ago.

"I'm fabulous my dear. But you know it's Lisa. No need to be all formal with me. Anyway, how are you doing? You look stressed," She commented, pointing the bags under Musa's eyes. Musa hadn't been stressed until this last month. Her boyfriend had cheated on her again, she had been laid off her job and she wasn't having much luck finding another one, and her father was going to Europe for Christmas while she was stuck in Gardenia, by herself.

"Oh just life, you know how that goes. I'm fine, really" Musa smiled, trying not to hint that she was upset.

"I know what you mean Musa, but you don't have to lie to me. I know a stressed woman when I see one. If you weren't stressed, you wouldn't be here. Anyway, Christmas is in a few days, what are your plans? Dan and I drove by your house the other day and there weren't any annual Christmas lights up. We were quite disappointed."

Musa gave off a slight, awkward laugh. Conversations with your ex's parents were never completely comfortable. "Actually, my dad is going to Europe for the holidays. We aren't decorating this year."

"You aren't going with him?" Her voice was filled with shock.

"No, I'm not. He is going with his new girlfriend and I'm going to stay here in Gardenia for the holidays," Musa faced the facts and said the truth out loud. She was alone for the holidays and she was going to have to accept the terrible outcomes.

"Alone?"

"Yeah, but it will be okay. It's only for a few days. I'll just bake some cookies and watch reruns of Christmas movies on ABC Family," Musa shrugged her shoulders and smiled as if it was no big deal. She didn't want Mrs. Harrington to worry.

"Well I have a great idea. You used to love spending the holidays with us. Why don't you come with us to the cabin for the week. I'm sure you have the whole week off from work. We are leaving tonight and I think it would be grand for you to come and spend it with us," She urged the young woman to tag along for a week of family festivities.

"I don't think that's such a great idea," Musa began. She was quickly dismissed by the older woman. "That is nonsense my dear. We would love to have you over for Christmas again. Quite frankly, the holidays haven't been the same without you. Just so you know, Riven won't be home for the holidays this year. He will be on a business trip, so I will not take no for an answer. You can come and stay with us for the week," Lisa smiled at Musa.

"All right, if you insist then," Musa declared her answer. She could do this right? How difficult would it be to spend the holiday's with your ex-boyfriends parents, siblings, his sibling's children and his grandparents.

* * *

Little did Musa or the Harrington family know that the youngest Harrington son was on an eight hour flight back to Gardenia to surprise his family for Christmas. The biggest surprise for the Harrington boy was yet to come.

* * *

Chapter I of "See You Again" is completed. Read and review if you wish! Comment or personal message me if there is anything in particular that you would like to see.. I will do my best to incorporate it in this story.


	2. Chapter II

Author's note, I've been debating a title for this story. I decided to change it to See You Again. It was you're my flashlight, but I don't think that's quite appropriate in this tense.

Anyways, a special shout out to _xxx-benedictbrotherfan-xxx, Musariven fan, guest, and fairy princess moon_ for reviewing. Y'all are awesome!

* * *

Chapter II

The drive to the cabin was a lot longer than what Musa had remembered. So far they had been on the road for an hour and twenty minutes. She was never one to do well riding in vehciels. In most situations, she was stationed in the backseat of the vehicle. With her long legs, she easily found herself readjusting her legs and her posture every few minutes to avoid any restlessness or cramping in her legs. She took in a deep breath, exhaling out and closing her eyes. She trained her brain to focus on one of her favorite bands and the music that flowed through her earbuds. Unfortunately, the only thing she was able to concentrate was on the series of events that had occured within the last few hours. Everything seemed to have happened so quickly.

One moment she was at the spa in tears because she was spending Christmas alone and Andy had already moved on from her and their two year relationship and onto the next woman of his choice. In a bliss, she was hugging Mrs. Harrington, pronouncing that she was going with them to their cabin for Christmas and then she was rapidly packing clothes for the holiday. Fast forward to three hours later, Lucas, Riven's father was loading her suitcase into the hatchback of their four-wheel drive Chevy Equinox. At first the encounter between the two was awkward and uncomfortable. She hadn't seen his father in two years and was expecting him to be silence. After all, the Harrington's spoke best when they were silent. Instead, he gave her an easy, comforting smile and pulled her into a big hug. He muttered something along the lines that she was still his favorite daughter, regardless of what happened.

Once her suitcase was loaded, they were pulling out of Musa's villa that was once occupied by her and her former roommate Flora and on their way to the cabin. Car talk was never Musa's favorite passby. Lucas was the first to speak up. He asked her what she did for a living. She was too afraid to tell him that she had been laid off her job due to intense budget cuts. Instead she told him what she had been doing for the last year and a half. Affirmatively, she retold her experience as a marine biologist at the zoo and how she took care of the aquatic animals. Gardenia was famous for its zoo aquariums. However, the zoo was closed for the winter and because it needed serious remodeling, Musa lost her job because of it.

In order for her to find a new job, she would have to relocate. It was hard relocating for a new job in the middle of the winter when no where was hiring for a marine biologist to take care of animals. So in the meantime, she was relying on the money she had saved up and of course her hefty trust fund she had inherited from her grandparents.

He raised his eyebrows when she told him about her job. She vaguely heard him say, I always thought you would be come a music teacher or pursue a music career. Musa thought that too until her life took a drastic switch. Of course she laughed and explained how she eventually wanted to become an animal trainer with penguins.

The car talk ended with gas prices and what to cook for dinner. Included in the dinner conversation was Musa's severe peanut allergy. When the conversation died down, Musa took the opportunity to close her eyes and replay the moments in her head, which brought her back to present time. Before she knew it, she was quickly asleep in the vehicle.

"Musa, wake up, we have arrived," Lucas woke Musa up from her slumber. She fluttered her eyelids open. She realized the once daylight car trip was now a dark and lightly snowy trip. She yawned, raising her arms into the air. Slowly, she pulled her phone out of the pocket to her peacoat and glanced at the screen. She had four messages: one from her father and three from Andy. All of which she wasn't eager to open.

Dad: Our flight leaves tonight, I love you and have a good Christmas. I'll call later.

Andy: Musa, I'm sorry she's just a friend.

Andy: Musa, please call me back.

Andy: I hate how we are doing this again.

Musa rolled her eyes and slipped her phone back into her purse. She was spending the holidays with a great family. Instead of moping around about her past relationships, she should embrace the wonderful family that surrounds her.

When she stepped out of the vehicle, she saw the cabin door open and out stepped the oldest Harrington Brother, Roy with his high school sweetheart Layla. Together the two had a six-year old girl, Roxy.

Roxy was a spit-image of her mother. The resemblance between the two was almost identical. Musa couldn't help but notice how much the young child had grown. The last time she had saw her, aside from social networking was when she was three years old. Now she was fluently talking and attending first grade.

"Grandma," Roxy yelled, running across the yard towards Lisa.

"Musa?" Layla questioned and she appeared down the cabin stairs. Musa stood next to the Equinox, huddled in her peacoat and scarf while Lucas unloaded everyone's bags for the car.

Musa gave a short laugh, "Yeah it's me."

"Well come here then. I haven't seen you in forever. Look at you," Layla gushed, pulling Musa in her for a hug. Her and Musa had always been close when she dated the youngest Harrington brother. Unfortunately, when the two departed, so did Musa and Layla.

"Are you and my brother finally back together," Roy leaned in for an embrace. Musa hugged him back but shook her head no.

"No, your brother doesn't even know I'm here. Actually, It's a funny story. I ran into your mother at the spa and then we talked about Christmas plans and my dad is going to Europe so she insisted I tagged along here for the week."

"I was wondering why I didn't see any Christmas lights up," Roy laughed. "Well anyway, we are sure glad to have you around again. You always put everyone in this Christmas spirit."

Musa grinned, "I try."

"So why aren't you spending Christmas with Andy?" Layla asked curiously. She had noticed the dismissal of relationship signs on the woman's Facebook page. One minute the two were happily in love and the next minute all signs of him depleted. It was almost as if their relationship didn't even happen.

"Ahh, he is busy for the holidays this year and doing a lot of traveling and I'm not up for traveling over the holidays really. I'm a homebody, it isn't my style," Musa continued, ignoring the fact that her relationship had actually ended. Ultimately, her life was a shit show right now and the more she could hide it from his family the better. She wanted to show them that she too was doing just fine without their son, just like she assumed Riven was fine without her. After all, he was the one to break up with her. Layla nodded her head, not pressing the topic any more than what she all ready had. If Musa wanted to talk about their relationship, then she would talk about it.

"Mommy, is this the girl that is on the wall in the family photos," Roxy asked, pointing to Musa.

"Roxy, don't point. But yes it's Musa, do you remember her?" Layla asked, looking up at Musa.

The child had nodded her head and ran over to Musa for a hug. Musa accepted the child's hug and she felt a longing feeling weighing around her heart. She had really missed a lot with the Harrington family over the last few years.

"Well come on Musa, I have your bag. Let's head inside and catch up on our lives with some whine," Lucas motioned for Musa to follow them inside of the house. It was almost as if nothing had ever changed.

* * *

"Thank you for flying Delta, we hope to see you again soon Mr. Harrington. Have a wonderful holiday," Amy, the flight attendant spoke to Riven, waving him goodbye. He was a usual business class flyer for Delta Airlines.

"As to you Ma'am," Riven commented before giving her one of his famous smiles. He tugged his carry on bag towards the exiting of the terminal.

"It's cold," Riven groaned to himself as he walked through the tunnel towards the inside of the hotel. He had been gone for so long that he had forgotten what it was like to experience cold and snowy weather. Once the Red Fountain Corporation had expanded, he had been promoted to the head executive officer of finances. Two days after the new thirty-eight million dollar structure was finalized, he was shipped off to the Red Fountain headquarters stationed near the tropic islands of Pyros. There he was used to warm and tropical weather year round. He had lived there for a little over a year now and had not once been home to see his family. He told his family that he had a business trip and he would not be home for the holidays. Instead, he had planned this trip for months now to visit home.

Riven made his way through the airport. He weaved through crowds of people and he headed towards the rental vehicle center. He had a taxi waiting for him at the exit doors of the hotel. It was parked alongside the curb and a man dressed in a tailored suit held a sign up that said Riven Harrington.

...

After an hour car ride, the taxi car pulled into the cabin driveway, running over the freshly bedded snow. Riven looked around the cabin, remembering the last time he had been there, two years ago. His parent's Equinox was already in the driveway along with his brothers' and his grandparents' vehicles. He couldn't wait to set aside work from his real life and enjoy this week vacation with his family. Work had been extra stressful and now he was hoping to enjoy some time to himself without any additional stress.

"We have arrived Mr. Harrington," The taxi driver spoke aloud, shaking Riven out of his own inner conscious.

"Right, sorry. Ahh here you are," Riven pulled out some cash and placed it into the taxi driver's hands. "Have a Merry Christmas man," Riven grabbed his carry on suitcase and stepped outside into the snow. The cold breeze bit at his exposed skin around his neck and face. He closed the car door behind and stepped into the fresh now that laid across the wooded yard.

He walked towards the door, feeling nervous because he hadn't seen his family in so long. He opened the cabin door and inhaled a strong smell of cinnamon. He was swarmed with many nostalgic feelings.

"Mom, dad, I'm home for Christmas! Surprise," Riven said right after he opened the living room door. When he moved his body inside the cabin, everyone gathered in the kitchen turned around to face him.

"Riven," Lisa squealed running towards her son. Everything for Riven happened so quickly. His mother threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. As she hugged him, and he hugged her back, he noticed a tall, thin figure standing in his kitchen next to his father. His smile on his face fell and his eyebrows crinkled with confusion.

"Musa," Riven spoke out loud, forgetting the welcoming embrace that his mother had placed him in.

* * *

That's all for chapter II.

Again if you have any suggestions or anything that you would like to see, leave it in the reviews or send me a personal message.


	3. Chapter III

Chapter III.

Thanks to my lovely reviewers. I said this once, but I'll say it again. Y'all are fantastic.

Here's a shout out to _guest, SapphireBlue24, aye, xxx-benedictbrothersfan-xxx, MeltingLTwitter, Fairy Princess Moon, and the other guest_.

An author's note to _SapphireBlue24_ \- I don't really have an answer to your question. Since Nabu hasn't been in the later series, I didn't include him in my story. However, he does play a role in some of my other stories if you do want to check him out there.

* * *

Previously in the last chapter:

 _His smile on his face and his eyebrows wrinkled with confusion._

 _"Musa," Riven spoke out loud, forgetting the welcoming hug that his mother placed him in._

 _..._

Moments before, Musa had just finished cleaning up dinner with the Harrington's. They were laughing as they were tossing water around in the kitchen. As much as adults they all were, they sometimes acted like children. The water war started when Lucas sprayed his oldest son Roy with the water nozzle. Maybe it was the whine everyone consumed or the happy feeling of the holidays. Either way, the family, with an addition of Musa were enjoying themselves.

All heads turned when the cabin door opened. They weren't expecting Lucas' mother, Grandma Faragonda until tomorrow. Perhaps her flight came in early and she booked a cab here. All eyes focused on the door. Instead of an eighty year old woman, a tall, broad-shoulder muscular man who was in his mid twenties walked through the door. The man shook out the snowflakes that were in dampening his tousled hair. He set his bag next to the door and glanced up into the crowd of people that were gathered into the kitchen.

The words deafened Musa's ears when she heard, "Mom, dad, I'm home for Christmas! Surprise!" come from a deep throaty chord. Oh God, she knew that voice from anywhere.

The shrieking noise of Lisa's surprised voice didn't even shake Musa out of her trans. Everything around her froze and she narrowed her eyes in on the youngest Harrington boy and his mother's embrace.

While the mother and son hugged, Riven looked up. His eyes met with Musa's. His eyebrows wrinkled with confusion and the smile fell off of his face. More shocked than his mother seeing her son for the holidays, Riven spoke, "Musa." Saying her name was enough to make her heart stop. The entire situation was an anomaly and she of course, was a part of this poor, unfortunate timing.

Having Musa here at his family's Christmas was not a part of Riven's plan. He pulled away from his mother's embrace, closed the door behind him and walked towards the kitchen where Musa stood frozen in place. She finally came to her senses when Riven was walking approaching her.

"What are you doing here?" The tone of his voice alluded his question into a demand.

"We invited her Riven, we didn't know you were going to be home for the holidays," Lisa tried easing into the situation.

Riven nodded his head at his mother and stared right into Musa. His eyes were filled with rapture and discordance, "Yeah but this is my family's Christmas, not hers."

Musa adjusted her posture and crossed her arms in front of her body. She was uncomfortable and wanted more than anything to get far away from Riven and the Harrington cabin as possible. She clenched her fists in attempt to remain calm.

After moments of gazing, she blinked and picked up where Lisa and Riven's conversation had left off. After years of singing and training her voice in musicals and theatrical plays, Musa contained her voice without it quivering.

"You're right. I didn't know you would be here. Look, first thing tomorrow morning I"ll book a flight to Europe and meet with my father and his girlfriend, it's not a big deal. Sorry for intruding," Musa concluded. She wasn't about to fight with Riven. Instead, she had matured and she was willing to compromise. By compromise, she meant get the hell out of the suffocating situation before anything else chaotic could happen.

Musa took a deep breath and relaxed her shoulders. She released her arms from her chest, relaxed her fingers and wiped her sweaty palms on the side of her Miss Me jeans. Her heart was racing so fast, she was sure Lucas could hear it as he was standing next to her.

The look of discordance fell from Riven's face and instead he gave off a curious, confused appearance. "What do you mean Europe? Your dad went to Europe for the holidays and left you here?"

"Well he didn't leave me here at the cabin, but yes. He decided to cancel Christmas this year and go abroad with Shelia."

"Who?" Riven questioned, never hearing the name Shelia before.

Musa opened her mouth to say something sarcastic, but bit her lip refusing the remark to come out. "His girlfriend."

Taken back by the surprise of news, Riven sat down on the other side of the peninsula and stared at Musa. "I can't believe your dad has a girlfriend. Let alone leave you here for the holidays. He loves Christmas and the holidays."

Not wanting to talk about it anymore, Musa walked away from the counter. She looked back at the Harrington family, "I'm aware of this. Hence why your mother invited me here for the week."

"He just left you alone for the holidays?" Riven began, curious to see what Musa's next comment was.

Instead of contributing to 'Poor Musa being alone for the holidays conversation', she ended any form of conversation between her and the male. "I'm going to excuse myself. I do not want to intrude on your family time. This is probably a good time to book my flight." Musa walked down the hallway, exiting herself from the family all together.

* * *

A shallow knock came from the pine framed door. The knock took Musa's attention away from her tablet. When she glanced up, Riven was standing in the doorway, smirking at her.

"Hey, can I come in?" Riven entered the room, without waiting for Musa's answer. This was the first time he had been in the bedroom in two years. Familiar sights, smells, and memories flooded him. The room was smaller than the rest. It had one queen bed, with all pine furniture. It was large enough for a bed, a night stand and a small built-in closet and dresser. Still positioned on top of the pine dresser was several picture frames capturing Musa and Riven's holiday photos. This had been the room that they used to share together. Two years ago before Christmas, Riven had broken up with Musa. During that time, he hadn't had the heart to take the photos down. Since that Christmas, he hadn't returned to the cabin due to his profession. And by the looks of the photos, his parents didn't have the heart to take them down either.

Musa nodded her head. She set her tablet down onto the comforter next to her. She readjusted her body by scooting over on the large bed making room for Riven, sitting up, and crossing her her legs into her body.

Riven sat down on the other side of the bed and gave off a hearty laugh. He picked up the tablet and noticed Musa was in the process of choosing a flight. He winced, the prices of the holiday flights were outrageous. It was estimated to land in London Heathrow Airport in two days. She didn't fuss when he picked up her tablet. Instead, she took the opportunity to crack her knuckles. A message from Andy flashed across the top of the tablet. It must have been synced with her cell phone. It didn't go unnoticed by Riven. _Who was Andy?_

"Musa, don't book a flight to Europe. You're more than welcome to spend the holidays here," Riven closed her tablet and set it behind him. By closing the tablet, he was reinforcing his decision that he wanted her to stay for the holidays.

Compared to her low affirmative voice in the kitchen, her tone was much more modulated. "I think I'll pass. I don't think I should stay here for the holidays. I need to get into contact with my father and book the ticket."

"No, don't. Let him enjoy his time with his girlfriend." It was weird understatement for Riven knowing that Musa's father had a girlfriend. From the time he knew Musa, he always associated her father with her mother. Out of curiosity, he questioned, "First girlfriend since your mom?"

Surprised by the sudden jump in conversation and curiosity from Riven, she cleared her throat, ridding the knot that was building in the back of her throat. "Yeah it is."

"It took me by surprise," Riven admitted.

"You and me both. But Shelia, I like her. She keeps him company and she casually calls to check in on me. Sometimes, I will go to my father's and she will bake this apple crisp from scratch. The taste is so nostalgic. It tastes just like how my mother used to make it," Musa confessed.

Realizing she had just went on this rant, Musa felt her face go red. She laughed and leaned back into the comforter, "God, I have no idea why I just told you that."

Riven laughed along with Musa. "If you ask for my opinion, I think it's great that you have both moved on." Musa nodded her head, not for sure whether or not if Riven was hinting at something else aside from her mother or not.

"Kids are you okay?" Lucas and Lisa passed the bedroom. They saw the scene in front of them. It was almost as if nothing had changed between the two. Musa was laying back onto the mattress, her long legs overhanging the side of the bed and Riven was sitting beside her, staring at her. Together, the two were laughing.

Being brought back to reality, Musa sat up and straightened her cardigan that was wrapped around her slender shoulders. "Yeah, thank you."

"I convinced her to stay with us for the holidays," Riven nodded his head at his mother and father. Musa eyed the three of them speculatively. They knew something that she didn't.

"We are going to bed. Goodnight kids. Don't stay up too late, we are hanging Christmas lights tomorrow," Lisa warned the two, just like she used to do years ago.

"Kids, as if," Riven snorted.

"I think she was referring to all of you. I'm a grown woman now," Musa pointed her finger at the Riven's body.

"You're still small," Riven noted.

"Despite my size, I'm still older than you."

Rolling his eyes, Riven let out a sharp laugh. "Only by three weeks."

"Three weeks wiser than you are Riven," Musa yawned, stretching her arms behind her head.

"I guess mom and dad are right. We should get going to bed. We have a long day tomorrow. Night Musa," Riven stood up, walking out of the room to leave Musa replaying the series of events that had happened in one day.

After changing out of her day clothes and into more sleep-suitable attire, Musa laid into bed, pulling the covers over her frail body. She stared into the dark night ceiling wondering if she was brought here by coincidence. Was it a coincidence that her father decided to cancel the holidays and go to Europe with his girlfriend? Was it a coincidence that Musa had broken up with Andy a few weeks ago? Was it a coincidence that she had run into Lisa at the Spa and been invited to the cabin again for the holidays? Or had it been a coincidence that Riven happened to surprise his family for Christmas when he wasn't supposed to come home? Or was it _fate_...

Coincidences like this just don't happen. Musa took a deep breath in, exhaling outwards. Maybe Stella was right, things do happen for a reason.

* * *

Compared to her later teenage years and her early twenties, the twenty-four year old woke up at seven-thirty a.m. When she was younger, waking up before ten was a struggle. Now, waking up before eight o'clock, was a promising habit. She sat up in her bed, stretching out her arms and smoothing out her messy bed hair. She rolled over the bed and checked her phone. It was December 21st, four days before Christmas.

She found her thumbs scrolling over Andy's name to send him a message, like she had done so many times before. Realizing her routine, she stopped. This was her cue to put her phone into the night stand drawer and head to the kitchen. Rising out of bed, the girl grabbed a sweatshirt off of the bedpost and exited the bedroom, making her way to the kitchen. She was careful to creep by Roy and Layla's room. Like so many years before, she didn't want to risk waking Roxy.

When she rounded the hallway, she immediately saw others seated at the peninsula. As she got closer, she saw it was Lisa and Riven, drinking coffee and conversing with one another. When Musa made her appearance in the kitchen, the two looked up with shocked expressions upon their faces.

"Musa, you're a morning person now?" Riven checked his watch, mentally calculating that Musa had only woken up 20 minutes later than he had.

"Yeah, weird how those things change." Musa walked over the sink basin. She leaned across the counter and grabbed a ceramic mug. She poured herself a cup of coffee.

"I remember when we used to stay here for the holidays it was pulling teeth for you to get out of bed before ten," Riven reminisced.

"I guess somethings change," Musa shrugged her shoulders.

"Yeah, I guess so," Riven agreed.

* * *

Thank you everyone for reading and reviewing.

As if stated in the other chapters, if you have anything you want to see happen within this story, you can either PM me or write it in the review. I'm always open for suggestions.


	4. Chapter IV

Chapter IV

Thank you _Guest, Fairy Princess Moon, MuriForever, MeltingLTwitter, Guest, SapphireBlue24, xxx-benedictbrothersfan-xxx, Guest, and SplendidForever_ for all leaving your wonderful reviews!

* * *

"Musa! Stop moving dammit," Riven snapped. He sent the girl a glare as she swayed her body back and forth. She was supposed to be a steady support for the ladder Riven was standing on.

Ignoring his complaints, Musa continued to move her body. "I'm sorry, but it's cold," she whined. Even with her NorthFace Jacket and snow boots, she was still cold. The breezy winter air seemed to blow through her jacket and nip at her skin.

"Imagine standing up here on this ladder," Riven murmured. After spending the last two years in a tropical place, the five degree Fahrenheit weather was beyond freezing to him. He couldn't feel his fingers and his nose was frozen.

"I'd rather not, I did that once." Musa's words drifted as she stared out into the woods. Her mind relapsed into remembering the previous holiday memories with the Harrington family.

It was always Musa and Riven's job to string the Christmas lights along the peak of the cabin. They were the two tallest out of everyone in the house. Riven stood three inches taller than his brother Roy and Musa was several inches taller than Layla and his mother. Of course Grandma Faragdona could not support herself on the ladder. So together the two would work together and string the Christmas lights.

One Christmas holiday, several years ago, Musa couldn't reach the top of the peak of the cabin from the porch roof. Her and Riven had this great idea to place a smaller ladder on the porch roof. While Riven was supposed to be holding onto the ladder to make sure it didn't slip on the slant where the snow seemed to melt the most, he let go of the ladder to throw an ice ball down at his father and his brother who were stringing Christmas lights below on the porch. The same time he let go, Musa stood on top step of the step ladder. When she placed both of her feet onto the step ladder, the bottom of the ladder gave out underneath of her, sliding down the slanted roof. Musa screamed, and tumbled off the roof, following the ladder.

After she fell off the side of the roof, she laid in the snow not moving. She was too scared to move. When she opened her eyes, Riven, Roy and Lucas encircled her, tossing questions at her.

 _"Musa, I'm so sorry,"_ Riven panted before trying to help her out of the snow. She wined telling him that it had hurt to much to move. Together, the three got her into their vehicle and they drove forty-five minutes to the nearest hospital.

Short story, Musa ended up leaving the hospital diagnosed with a fractured clavicle. She spent the rest of the holidays with her arm wrapped in a aircast and an immobilizer for her arm and shoulder.

"MUSA," Riven shouted after he had said her name for the third time.

"Huh," Musa tore her gaze away from the icy trees in the woods. She looked up at Riven with a dazed look in her eyes.

"I said we have finished the stringing the Christmas lights, we can go inside and get some hot chocolate now."

"Oh, all right."

"Are you okay?" Riven asked.

"Yeah, I was just thinking of the time when you let go of the ladder," Musa laughed. At the time of the fall, she had been scared to death. Aside from a few deep bruises and a broken bone she had been lucky. The doctor had said she was lucky she didn't break her neck from the fall.

"I forgot about that," Riven laughed, stepping off the step ladder. Quickly, he folded the small step ladder up and tossed it over the side of the roof. It fell right into the snow mound next to the house.

"Oh, I didn't. I'm still scared to death of ladders and roofs," Musa commented. "Hence why you're standing on the ladder this time. If I let go, I wouldn't have felt so bad. Pay back really is a bitch."

"But you're on the roof now," Riven pointed out and laughed.

"Only because your mom asked me to be."

"Okay, okay," Riven and Musa carefully stepped towards the edge of the ladder. "By the way, I didn't forget about your fall. I still feel bad and pretend it never happened."

"Don't feel to bad, it only gets sore every so often now," Musa said as she pointed to her right shoulder where she had fallen.

Musa chuckled, carefully following Riven down the ladder.

Once the two were footed on the ground surface, they headed for the back porch of the cabin. They stopped moving when they heard Lisa yell for Lucas.

"Lucas, your mother is here and she brought Techna and Timmy."

Musa watched Lucas drop his Christmas lights and run to the front of the cabin where his mother was. She stood there pondering who Timmy was. She vaguely remembered Techna, Riven's brainy cousin. In fact, she and Techna graduated from the same high school. She left Gardenia and attended some science institute across the country. Musa hadn't seen the red-headed woman in years.

When they had followed the footprints of Lucas to the front of the cabin, standing around was Lisa, young Roxy, Layla and Roy, and now Grandma Faragonda and Techna with a man who must be Timmy. Techna had grown and changed from the last time Musa had saw her. Her long hair that was always in a pony tail was now cut into a cute pixie cut and she had traded in her mud boots for a nice pair of Stuart Weitzman boots. She was dressed in dark wash jeans with a peacoat on while the man next to her was in jeans, Doc Martins and covered in a parka.

"My God, Musa is that you?" Grandma Faragonda pushed through the Harrington boys and pulled Musa into an embrace. She was always the favorite out of everyone.

"Grandma Faragonda, I've missed you," Musa returned the hug.

"I'm so glad my grandson finally decided to give to win you back and give it another try. I've been hounding on him for the last two years about it. When I went to visit him months ago he was still with that tramp Darcy," She groaned into Musa's shoulder. Their conversation was so quiet, the rest of the family couldn't hear it.

 _Who was Darcy?_ Musa froze, unsure of what to say. She didn't want to break the old woman's heart. "Unfortunately, we aren't together. It just happened to be a fluke that we are both here. Lisa invited me and Riven decided to surprise his family for the holidays."

Pulling away from the hug, Musa heard Grandma Faragonda say "Well then this is fate then" with a smile on her face.

When the two pulled away from each other, Riven and Roy groaned at the same time. "Grandma, how come Musa always gets the first hugs? We are your actual grandsons," Roy grumbled.

"Because I like her better boys. She wasn't a hellion growing up and I didn't have to raise her. Come here Layla and Roxy," Grandma Faragonda walked away from Musa and walked over to the other girls and embraced them.

"That's fair," Riven said to his brother and the two conversed with one another while

"Hello Musa," Techna said. Musa weaved away from Lisa and Lucas and stood next to Techna.

"Hey, how have you been?" Despite her flairs of nerdiness, Musa had always liked Riven's cousin. Techna was Lucas's twin brother Aaron's daughter. Techna was the opposite of Riven. She was laid back, she never had a temper and she was focused and determined. Whereas Riven was sometimes quite the opposite. He had always had a bad temper, especially when he was a child. He was impatient and he was always stressing over something.

"Great and for yourself?

"Really good."

"Oh Musa, this is Timmy, my fiance." The words struck Musa like a bulldozer. Techna had a fiance and Musa couldn't even keep a pet fish alive. What had the world turned into? It seemed as if everyone had somebody but her.

"Nice to meet you Timmy, I'm Musa," Musa extended her arm out, shaking Timmy's firm hands.

"Hello Musa. Nice to meet you too. I take it you're dating Riven?" He questioned. Techna leaned forward, curious to know the answer as well.

"I'm not actually. My dad went to Europe for Christmas and Lisa invited me, unknowingly that Riven was surprising her for the holidays. So here we both are at the cabin."

"But they used to date," Techna intervened, giving Musa a knowing smile.

* * *

Musa left the living room, heading to the room she was occupying for the week. Quickly, she slid off her jeans and put on a pair of university sweatpants on and laid in the bed. This was the first moment all day she had to herself and she was going to take advantage of it while the men went to town to pick up some more groceries and get firewood. Grandma Faragonda, Techna Layla, and Riven's mom were all occupied in the living room, talking about family things. Musa made the excuse she was tired and she darted for the room. She was used to overbearing situations, but even for her, this was a bit over the edge.

She was almost asleep when her phone buzzed in the night stand. Groggily, she rolled over and pulled the pine drawer open. Earlier when she had tossed her phone in there, she hadn't bothered to pay attention to any of the miscellaneous items in the drawer. To her surprise, there many trinkets and items that had been passed between she and the youngest Harrington boy at the cabin were still in place there from where they had left them.

The phone buzzed again, forcing Musa to tear her eyes away from the arrangement of items.

"Stella, of course," Musa said to out loud to herself.

"Hello?"

"Musa Pennington! I haven't heard from you since yesterday when you were upset. Are you okay? I take it you ended up going to Andy's. Flora said she hadn't heard from you and I was starting to get worried you would be spending the holidays alone."

"Stella, Stella, slow down," Musa breathed. Her best friend always rambled when she was worried. It was a common trait of hers. Musa was glad to have a friend that cared as much as her friend did. However, it was annoying at times and she was way too tired for this conversation.

Knowing what was coming next, Musa held the phone away from her ear and began to confess to her friend. "I'm not at Andy's. Instead, I'm at the Harrington's cabin for Christmas."

"What?" Musa heard the girl scream. Due to her perplex hearing, Musa faintly heard Brandon run into the room asking if everything was okay.

"How? What? Why? M-m-Musa!" The girl stammered.

"I ran into his mother at the spa and she invited me. She told me Riven wouldn't be here for Christmas. Pretty much she forced me to come over."

Musa heard a deep sigh on the phone. Stella followed after the sigh and the dramatic pause, "Well in that case, I guess that's all right. His mother was always a gem. I hope you're enjoying your time with the Harrington family."

Musa heard footsteps by the door and she lowered her voice. "I wish that were the case, however, Riven surprised his family for Christmas the same night I got here. So he's here and so am I."

"Oh my God. Musa, do not. I repeat do not," Stella didn't even get to finish her sentence before Musa interrupted.

"I'm not Stella, calm down. We are being civil towards one another."

"Is there anything else you want to tell me?" Stella added.

"We have to share a room now. He slept on the couch last night, but his two cousins came and there is no room in the living room for Riven. So he will be sleeping on the floor while I sleep in the bed."

"I can't believe this Musa. Remember, Andy. Remember you and Andy have a future together. You and Riven don't," Stella reminded her best friend.

"Hardly," Musa snapped. She knew her friend wouldn't approve of the situation, but she was tired of her encouraging her to be together with Andy.

"Look I just want you to be happy Musa. When Riven left, I was there for you and I just don't want to see you in that same state again. You're better than that and I don't want you to make poor decisions. You deserve the world and Riven isn't the guy that is going to give that to you."

Musa closed her eyes, throwing her body back into the bed. "But Stella, is Andy going to give me that? I have waited these last six months for him to sort out his life and he keeps screwing it up. I don't know..."

"Musa, just give him a call. I want you to figure this out before you're so caught up in this Riven-esque nostalgic extravaganza."

"All right, I'll give you him a call if it will appease you."

"Let me know how it goes."

"Okay, bye Stella."

Musa took a deep breath, putting the phone to her face once again. "Hey Andy."

...

Riven stepped into room, surprised to find Musa curled up into a ball facing the wall. He was about to say something to her until he realized she was on the phone with someone. He was going to turn around and walk out of the room. However, Riven was interested to know who Musa was talking to and why she was having a conversation as such.

"I don't know why you're being like this," Musa argued into the phone, not realizing Riven had stepped into the room. Riven couldn't hear the other side of the phone conversation, he could only hear what Musa was saying.

"No Andy, I'm not coming home." Musa said in a monotonous voice. It was obvious to an outsider that Musa was tired of the conversation she was having.

"You made that choice. I called you for the holiday plans and some girl answered."

"Oh she was just your friend? I'm sure she was."

"We are doing this again because you're antics are shitty," Musa began. Her voice immediately stopped as if she was listening to the other person.

"You know what Andy, fuck off," Musa snapped, hanging up the phone. She tossed her iPhone onto the bed and let out a long groan. She was never one to use profanity but in situations like these, it was needed.

"If this is bad timing, I can come back later," Riven said striking up a conversation.

Teary-eyed, Musa glanced up to find Riven standing in the room. She felt her face flush from the embarrassment of her yelling into the phone and here she was in the cabin in tears over another man. _How much had he heard?_ She wiped the corner of her eyes and sat up in the bed, pulling her legs into her chest.

"No-no-no, you're fine. This is your room. Come in whenever." Her voice was brittle compared the angry tone she was using moments before.

Before Riven could even ask her if everything was okay, she changed the subject. "How was going into town?"

"It was like old times. Dad and Roy got the wood while I went into the convenient store and got some of the groceries mom wanted. I should take you there tomorrow. That old Christmas store is still there, you know the one you love? We can buy an ornament and put in on the tree tomorrow before we set it up and decorate," Riven smiled, placing his hand on Musa's knee trying to cheer her up. When his hand touched her knee, he couldn't even embrace himself for what he felt. It made his heart lurch forward.

"Yeah, that sounds good. Does it still smell like Christmas?" Musa asked, eyeing Riven's hand on her knee.

"Of course. Well if Christmas has a smell. The same old man that is your favorite still works there. He asked about you today."

Musa breathed, "Really? He was such a sweet man. I wonder if he's still lonely. I remember he lost his wife around the same time I lost my mom."

"Well you can find out for yourself. I told him I'd bring you there tomorrow. He works all day. And guess what?" Riven leaned in, building the suspense.

"What?"

"They even have those homemade chocolates that you adore. I even bought some for you. I figured if I hadn't, you would have thrown me off the roof this time," Riven winked, making her laugh.

Musa's eyes widened and a smile formed loosely on her face, "God, chocolates and Christmas? What more could I ask for? Let's go eat them." Musa stood up, smoothing out her t-shirt and sweatpants. Her bare feet padded against the wood floors.

"Hey, are you really okay?" Riven grabbed her hand before she could leave the room. He stared into her eyes exquisitely asked, eyeing the girl carefully. Despite their changes and differences, he still knew her and the look in her eyes said otherwise.

"I will be." She pulled her hand out of his and headed towards the kitchen.

Riven nodded his head, accepting her answer. He paused for a moment, breathing in and out. Holding her hand was too much for him. She was enigmatic and he needed more of it. Once he was able to breathe normally, he followed out of the bedroom.

"Don't eat all of those chocolates," Riven called after her.

* * *

Just an Author's note below:

I've had several requests of longer chapters, which I hope I did with this one. It took me a little longer to write but here it is.

One thing as a remember, a good story always takes it time. While a story starts slow, it builds up. We see the characters grow, develop, their personal habits expose, we engage with the plot build up and so much more. I'm going to continue taking my time on the story that way once it comes to the end of it, everything will flow well together and it will be an awesome story.

I'll try to write longer chapters though.

Anyway, Thanks for being awesome and reading my work!


	5. Chapter V

Chapter V.

Because you are so awesome and inspired me to write more through your fantastic reviews, here I am at midnight writing another chapter when I work in the morning.

As always, special thanks to my dedicated readers and reviewers: _Fairy Princess Moon, Guest, Aye, Guest, Musariven fan, SplendidForever, xxx-benedictbrothersfan-xxx, and MeltingLTwitter_. That is 8 reviews in a little over 12 hours. Really though, you all are amazing!

A/N: Aye, I loved your crazy reviews! It was a huge motivational push for me.

* * *

"Musa, darling, you look tired. Did you get any sleep?" Grandma Faragonda leaned across the counter top and stared into Musa's red, puffy eyes. Either she was exhausted or she was really upset about something.

Musa had only been in the kitchen for a few moments before the rest of the Harrington family gathered. She had enough time to sit down on the bar stool and engross herself into the incredible chocolates that Riven had brought her from the small Christmas shop in town. The milk chocolates were wrapped in a fine tinfoil wrapping and like she remembered, the smooth chocolate melted in her mouth. They were chocolates to die for.

Pretending she wasn't upset, Musa nodded her head. "I fell asleep and I think I'm having a hard time adjusting to waking up. I rarely take naps anymore so when I do, I always feel like I've been run over by a truck. I think my body goes into rem sleep or something every time I nap."

Sitting next to her in the barstools was Riven. Knowing very well Musa was lying, Riven played along with her story. The last thing he needed was his family pestering her with questions. "She was a sleep when I entered the room. She just kept snoring away."

First, Musa smacked Riven in his thigh, shaking her head. "I was not." Quickly, Musa shot Riven a thank you look. In response, Riven grinned and nonchalantly let his knee touch Musa's. He was surprised when she didn't flinch or bother to move it away from his. Instead, the two sat there, legs touching underneath the granite counter.

"Musa, tell me more about what you have been up to these last two years," Techna inquired. "Are you and Stella still good friends as if I remembered?"

"Yeah Musa, tell us more," Riven laughed, playing along with his cousin. Secretly, he was glad she asked the question that way he wouldn't have to. After all, he was quite curious to know what Musa had been doing for the last two years without him.

"Yeah, okay. Well Stella and I are great friends. Last year I was her maid of honor for her wedding. My roommate Flora from college moved out about a year and a half. She also got married and I was the maid of honor in that. She had a baby girl with her husband Helia. What else do you want to know?" Musa eyed the Harrington posse.

"Did you graduate college?" Roy asked, holding Roxy in his arms.

Musa half rolled her eyes, laughing at his question. "Of course, is that even a question?"

"It's a question if you answer it," Lucas grinned, making fun of Musa, just like had was accustomed to back when she was practically a part of the family.

"In what?" Timmy questioned out of curiosity.

"I graduated with a bachelor science in Marine Biology and a bachelor of art in business."

"Those are two degrees in the opposite spectrum my dear," Grandma Faragonda commented.

"I think I've always been indecisive. So I got two degrees instead of one. If I ever get bored, I can switch careers without being stuck in a bind. My primary degree is my bachelor of science in Marine Biology."

"So what have you been doing with that?" Layla was the next to question. "Look I'm sorry for all of these questions, but we haven't seen you in a really long time. We need the run down."

Musa laughed, accepting his family's interrogating questions. "I work at the Gardenia zoo in the aquarium department. If we get rescue marine life animals, I am on call to come take care of them. We rarely do get them, but sometimes we will get an assortment of aquatic animals brought to our lab for testing and what not."

"You have a ring on your finger, are you getting married?" Timmy eyed the ring that was on Musa's right hand in place of an engagement ring.

"Oh no, this ring was my mother's ring. She gave it to me before she passed away. Apparently my right ring finger is to fat for this ring so I wear it on my left hand. Of course, until another one replaces it." Musa forgot that Timmy didn't know the back story of her mother. Instictively, she twirled the silver band around her finger.

"It's a pretty ring. I'm sorry for asking," Timmy felt his face go red. He always had bad timing.

Musa returned his apologetic smile with a smile. "Hey it isn't a big deal. You weren't with this crazy family when it happened. It was a few months right before my twenty-second birthday. She passed away from cancer. It was a really quick process. In August she was hospitalized with what they thought was a cold and then they soon found out it was stage-four lung cancer. By the end of September, Hospice had come into our house and in early October she had passed away."

"That has to be hard, I'm sorry about your loss," Timmy murmured.

"It happens," Musa smiled at Timmy. "We are all humans, we never know what is going to happen next."

"So Musa, do you have a man in your life?" Layla leaned in, her lips pressed together. This had been the question that she had been dying to ask.

Musa opened her mouth to speak but closed it. She didn't have an answer to Layla's question. Did she? Were she and Andy a thing? "It's complicated."

"If it's his fault why it's complicated that man is an idiot. You need to travel the world while you're young and enjoy yourself Musa. You are too young and pretty to worry about a man," Grandma Faragonda participated in the conversation. "After all, the elderly always know best."

"Thanks Grandma," Musa smiled, giving the elderly woman a smile.

After the Harrington family had asked Musa an abundance of questions, everyone decided to split up to get ready for supper and spend some time alone. The only two left congregated in the kitchen were Riven and Musa.

"Want anything to drink?" Riven asked as he approached the refrigerator. He opened the door, pulling out a bottle of Jack, a can of coca cola and a bottle of wine.

"I'll have a glass of white wine," Musa replied.

Riven walked back to the peninsula with two glasses of alcohol. He placed Musa's glass in front of her and his glass of Jack and coke in front of him.

"Sorry about my family, you know how they can get," Riven ran his hands through his hair and stopped at the back of his head. He rubbed the back of his head, stretching out the stress that had been building for the last few months.

"Hey, it isn't a big deal. I should have assumed I would have these questions with or without you here," Musa laughed, knowing very well what she was getting herself into.

"I know, but sometimes they can ask very personal questions. It's almost as if they have no filter," Riven groaned, taking a drink of the whisky that his father had poured him. The alcohol burned down his throat and he smiled at Musa.

"Well it's where you get it from," Musa pointed out, taking a drink of wine out of her glass.

"Hey, that's just rude," Riven grinned.

"It's the truth. I remember when we first started dating, you asked me so many questions. I was the quiet one and somehow the roles seemed to have reversed."

"I don't know if that's quite the truth. On the phone earlier you weren't to talkative or keen on any questions..." Riven trailed on, knowing where the conversation was leading. "Is Andy the man that it's complicated with? I just remember earlier you being so upset and it wasn't with me." Riven raised his eyebrow and took a drink of his jack.

"I wasn't upset," Musa retorted.

Riven laughed, shaking his head. "You used profanity, you were upset."

Eyeing Riven, Musa took a deep breath. For being civil towards one another, the man certainly had a knack for finding sudden interests in her life. "Yeah, that's Andy."

"Well he's a dick," Riven held his glass out for Musa to cheer.

"That he is my friend," Musa clanked her glass against Riven's and the two drank in silence until the Harrington family came back from their own personal time.

* * *

In the process of baking holiday cookies, Musa rose from the bar stool she was seated in and walked out of the kitchen. She rounded the peninsula overhang and weaved through the kitchen table into the corner of the dining room where the piano was located. It was a Parlor Grand piano, one that was trademarked named as the living room grand piano. For many Harrington Christmas's she had played the piano for the family. It was a tradition to sing Christmas songs and together enjoy each other's company.

She sat down on the piano bench and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and let her body do the work instead of her mind. It was a natural reaction for her to feel the keys first and then begin to play. Her fingers slid across the keys and she began playing the piano, attracting the family's attention.

 _"They're singing deck the halls, but it's not like Christmas at all. Because I remember when you were here and all of the fun we had last year,"_ Musa sang, her voice echoed throughout the living room.

It didn't take long for the Harringtons' to drop what they were doing and enter the dining room. Musa opened her eyes to find the Harrington family gathered in the living room. They all gathered together and started singing along with her.

She smiled, her eyes twinkled under the lighting from the chandelier. She caught Riven's eyes and he smiled back at her.

" _The snows coming down, I'm watching it fall, lots of people around, baby please come home_ ," Lisa and Lucas sang together with one another.

Around the room, each person took a different turn to sing along to the song. Musa remained singing the chorus and hummed a rhythm along with playing the piano to keep everyone synced to the song.

" _Christmas_ ," Everyone sang.

" _The church bells in town, all singing a song, baby please come home_ ," Timmy sang to Techna as he grabbed her hands in his. Musa smiled at the couple. They truely were adorable.

" _We're singing deck the halls, but it's not like Christmas at all, because I remember when you were and all of the fun we had last year_ ," Roy and Layla sang, pointing their fingers at Musa. Musa's face lit up and she couldn't remove the smile that was featured on her face. It didn't go unnoticed by Riven. Instead, her smile made him smile even more than what he already was.

" _Pretty lights on the tree, I'm watching them shine, you should be here with me, baby please come home_ ," The whole family sang together except for Riven. Finally, Riven let the part of the song built up and his voice echoed throughout the entire room, " _You should be here with me_ ," Riven sang, moving towards the piano. He took a seat next to Musa on the bench and together the two sang the rest of the song with the rest of the family.

After spending the last two Chirstmas holidays alone, he had forgotten how much fun his family was. He had really missed partaking in the annual Christmas fun with his family. He had also forgotten how harmonious Musa's voice was. It was intoxicating and he craved to hear more.

"God," Riven groaned to Musa when the song was over.

For the first time in a really long time Musa had a permanent smile on her face. It was a natural smile, not one that had to be forced upon her face. She had forgotten what it was like to sing her heart out. Like the rest of the Harrington family, she was also in the Christmas spirit. She turned her head towards Riven after he had let out a groan. "What?"

He stared into her eyes, "I forgot how beautiful your voice is."

"Thanks," Musa blushed. "Singing these Christmas songs just takes me back," Musa laughed, almost leaning her head on Riven's shoulder like she used to do out of habit. Quickly, she realized what she was doing and brushed it off as nothing. Luckily, it went unnoticed by Riven's family but it did go unnoticed by Riven himself.

"That was just beautiful Musa. We sure did miss having someone who isn't tone deaf around here," Lucas tossed a thumbs up in Musa's direction.

"I do what I can Lucas," Musa responded.

Riven stood up winking at Musa. "Play my song!"

Everyone in the room groaned as they knew what song was about to be performed. However, no one objected to the magenta-haired man's request. After playing it all of these years, the song came natural to Musa as well as it did to the family.

Riven stood up on the bench as Musa took the tune away on the piano. The beat of this song was a lot quicker than the previous song and his entire family danced around the living room, laughing and smiling with one another. There was no such thing as a dull Christmas with the Harrington family.

" _Lord Almighty, I feel my temperature rising. Higher, higher, it's burning through to my soul. Girl, girl, girl, you are going to set me on fire. My brain is flaming, I don't know which way to go ohhhhh_ ," Riven pointed at Musa who was sitting below him. She blushed like old times as he sang the song that used to be dedicated to her when they were dating.

He danced on top of the piano bench, providing a show for his family. " _Cause your kisses lift me higher, like a sweet song of a choir_."

" _When you light my morning sky, we're burning love_ ," Musa sang along with Riven.

" _I'm burning love!_ " Riven howled.

" _Ooo, ooo, ooo I feel my temperature rising_ ," Riven jumped down from the bar stool and danced around Musa, running his hands through the end of her hair. He gave it a hair flip and danced around the living room, pulling Roxy, his niece along with him.

" _Oh rising_ ," Layla and Nabu acted as a chorus for the song.

" _Help me I'm flaming I must be hundred and nine..._ " Riven pretended to fan himself as he paraded around the dining room

" _Oh yeah,_ " Grandma Faragonda and Techna leaned in towards one another, belting out the lyrics as loud as they could. They too also participated as Riven's back up singers. Just like any other Christmas for this song, they played the role of the backup singers for the song.

" _Burning burning burning and nothing can cool me_ ," Musa sang for Riven.

" _I just might turn to smoke, but I feel fineeeee,_ " Riven coed.

"C _ause your kisses lift me higher like the sweet song of the choir_ ," The entire family sang in unison.

" _When you light my morning sky, we're burning love_."

" _Cause your kisses lift me higher, and you light my morning sky with burning love_ ," Riven faded his voice as Musa slowly stopped playing the piano.

"God, I love that song. I haven't sang it in forever," Riven took a deep breath and walked away from his family.

"This is a vocal workout for me, you know that?" Riven laughed, wrapping his arm around Musa's frail shoulders. Instead of shrugging it off of her like she should have. She allowed him to keep it there and they stayed their motionless until another song was decided upon.

"All right, what song next?" Musa was open to suggestions.

"Can we singe Jingle Bells?" Roxy yelled as she wiggled her way up to Musa and Riven who were seated again at the piano.

"Of course sweetie. Why don't you come and sit on the bench with Riven and I?"

" _Jingle bells, Jingle bells, Jingle all the way..._ " Everyone chimed in again, singing along to the Christmas tunes.

* * *

"I haven't had that much fun in a long time," Riven exclaimed, leaning back into the queen size bed next to Musa.

"I haven't sang like that in so long," Musa who was sitting in an upright position leaned back into the plush mattress. They were laying next to each other in the bed. Like old times, they stared up at the ceiling and just talked with one another.

"You have a killer voice Musa. I'm surprised you never did anything with a singing career," Riven commented. From the time they were kids growing up with one another,

Musa closed her eyes, "I planned on it, but then things changed."

"Your mom?" Riven already knew the answer to his question, but he wanted to hear it for himself.

"I had a really hard time admitting this after my mom passed. When my mom grew sick, I felt wrong for singing. Music was her passion and when she died, I thought I should let it die too. But then as the healing process went on, I realized that her passion was my passion and I shouldn't quit because she isn't here to enjoy it. She wouldn't want me to live my life how I was living it."

"I'm sorry Musa."

"For what?"

"Not being able to handle your mother's death with you. When she died, you were so sad and so lost. I didn't know how to help, so I panicked and left," Riven admitted to himself.

"It's fine, I survived Riven. Quite frankly, I would have left myself if I were you."

"We were both growing up and we had so many plans and we were going in different directions, I felt myself detaching from you and I just went with the moment," Riven frowned.

"I don't blame you there. I was in a dark place for awhile and then Andy came into my life, and God," Musa stopped talking before she said anything else. This was not one of the conversations that she wanted to have right after such an awesome night. Just like had before, Riven was getting her to talk. He was so good at retrieving information from her.

Riven picked up on the silence that came from Musa. He sensed Andy was a tough subject for her to talk about and he was craving to know more. "Was Andy the man that you were with after me?"

"Yeah, he picked up the pieces that you left broken."

"I hate him," Riven spat, his jealousy overwhelming him.

Musa didn't say anything but nodded her head. "Sometimes, I do too."

"Musa," Riven breathed and rolled over to face her.

She opened her eyes and stared into his cerulean orbs for eyes. "Yes?" She whispered.

"Do you sing for Andy?" Riven lowered his voice to a whisper.

"Never," Musa whispered, clenching the hem of her Nike running shorts. She remained still, just like Riven had.

"Never?" Riven asked back.

"Only for you," She breathed.

Neither of the two said anything for awhile. They just stared into each other's eyes like they used to do when they were dating. A large gust of wind blew, causing Musa to jump. The wind shook her back to consciousness.

"Well Riven, we should get some sleep. We have another long, festive day tomorrow," Musa yawned closing her eyes shut.

"I agree, goodnight Musa." Riven sat up, swinging his legs over the bed. He lowered himself onto the ground where he lay in his sleeping bag, away from Musa.

"Goodnight Riven."

* * *

I'm not going to lie, this chapter was a little tougher to write since it was a filler chapter. Anyway, to get into the Christmas spirit to write this chapter, I listened to Christmas songs in June...

The Christmas songs I used were from my favorite Christmas movie, _The Mistletones_. The songs are "Burnin' Love" and "Baby Please Come Home." The credit goes to those two songs.

Whatever keeps the motivation going right?


	6. Chapter VI

Chapter VI

Sorry for the delay. I've been super busy. My brother just got married this past weekend-It was a beautiful wedding-but my time has been spent catering to that. I'm glad I can finally relax and it is over with. I wish them a lifetime full of happiness.

I was going to postpone this chapter and wait to spill the tension between the two in a latter chapter, but I'm a sucker for being the bearer of bad news- so here is the new chapter. It is more of a darker chapter, so think happy thoughts before and afterwards. I rearranged some components in the story that way this chapter fits better than what I had originally planned for.

Musariven Fan: I accidentally put Nabu's name instead of Roy's. I didn't catch myself on that mistake, so thank you for pointing that one out there. I will go back in and edit that chapter.

As usual thank you to _SapphireBlue24, Guest, MeltingLTwitter, Jaywing, Fairy Princess Moon, Aye, xxx-benedictbrothersfan-xxx, musariven fan, Ellen, and Splendid Forever_.

Y'all rock and make me want to continue writing.

Enjoy.

* * *

Musa woke up the next morning to her phone ringing. Disassembled, she tossed her hand around on the night stand, searching for the ringing device. Trying not to wake Riven, she sat up and opened her eyes, relying on the moonlight to help her find her phone. Once her body awoken from her slumber, she quickly found her phone and lifted it upwards to her left ear. She swatted the messy hair strands away from the frame of her face.

Groggily she answered, "Hello?"

It was Stella. Musa pulled the phone away from her ear and she winced from the light that shined in her face.

"Stella," Musa yawned, "Give me one second."

Carefully stepping out of bed, Musa lunged over Riven and tiptoed out of the room, closing the door softly behind her. Just like the room she was staying in, the hallway was also equally as dark. Relying on her phone light, she wandered down the hallway to find a secluded place to have a conversation with the blonde girl without being to loud to wake anyone from their slumber. Finally, Musa found one of the abandoned dens. She pulled the computer chair away from the makeshift wooden desk and sat down.

"Okay I'm free to talk. This better be good because it's five in the morning," Musa stiffened a yawn.

She leaned into the back of the computer chair, closing her eyes. If it wasn't for the exciting news that Stella had brought forth, Musa would have fallen asleep in the chair on the phone.

"You're what?" Musa felt her insides lurch forward and suddenly she felt happy and giddy. A large smile formed on her face. The once tired girl was now wide awake and energized. She stood up, stretching her legs. She began to pace around the den to rid herself of the sudden arousal of emotion that was consuming her.

"Stella, you're going to make a wonderful mother," Musa said into the phone, sliding her body down the brick wall and onto the carpeted floor.

"Wait, you're asking me to be the God mother? Of course, why wouldn't I say yes," Musa exclaimed, almost shouting. Once she heard her voice echo throughout the room, she brought her voice back down to a husky whisper. "I can't believe that you will be a mother."

"I can't wait to plan your baby shower. We can do a reveal party like you have always wanted and I have the decorations you can have since I never got to use them," Musa started saying, her voice lingered on until Stella had cut her off.

"I know, I'll make a good mother some day as well Stella. No need to feel bad why you're having a child before me. Stop it right now," Musa managed to say into the phone. "This is your moment to shine Stella. You're going to make a wonderful mother."

Musa heard Brandon on the other end of the phone saying how much he wanted a boy. "Sorry Stella, I'm rooting for a boy to along with Brandon. I already have a god daughter that is a girl and if you have a girl, Brandon will be filing bankruptcy because you will be spending way too much of his money."

"Of course I want to speak to Brandon. Hand over the phone," Musa heard the shuffling around on the other end of the cell phone.

"Hey Brandon, it's nice to hear from you too. Congratulations B, you're going to also make a wonderful father. I'm so excited for you two and I can't wait to stop by after Christmas."

"The Harrington's is going well. I'll tell Riven you said hi when he wakes up in the morning, because you know, it isn't normal to call people this early in the morning. I guess for this news, it's acceptable though. I know, I am always careful. Don't worry, I know who you are rooting me to be with, so calm down over there. I'll sort things out eventually."

"All right, all right, I love you guys too. Get some rest soon to be mom. Take good care of her Brandon and get her those foods she will crave!"

After the phone conversation ended and the hype faded, Musa felt the empty pit inside her stomach begin to consume her. She closed her eyes and leaned her against the wall. All of the emptiness that she had been feeling the last few months had caught up to her.

* * *

"It's five-thirty in the morning why are you up?" Riven approached Musa who was bundled up on the one side of the couch in the empty den.

Her eyes filled with tears, she looked up at him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up. I couldn't go back to the room to sleep."

"No it's fine. Hey is everything okay?" Riven asked, noticing the look that appeared across her face.

"Fine," She muttered, not wanting to talk about anything, especially with Riven.

Riven knew better than to take the 'fine' and go back to bed. Instead, he sat down next to her on the couch and gave her a soft smile. "What's really wrong?"

"Everything, nothing, I don't know," Her voice muffled into the sleeve of her crew-neck sweatshirt.

"Surely there has to be something wrong or else you wouldn't be out here by yourself," Riven smirked, drawing attention to the obviousness of the situation.

"I'm sorry, I feel like I keep doing this here," Musa exasperated leaning her back into the cushion of the couch.

Riven pressed his lips together, "Doing what?"

Musa shrugged her shoulders, biting her lip. "Being all emotional. It's the first holiday that I thought I would finally have it all together and I don't. In fact, I have nothing together."

Riven scooted his body closer to hers as she quickly pulled her legs towards her chest and she leaned her head down on her knees.

"Hey that isn't true, you have a great job," Riven began, searching for something to say to make the female feel better.

Musa laughed. It wasn't her usual fervent laugh. Instead, it was a cynical laugh coated with bitterness. "That's a lie. I had a great job. I got laid off a few weeks ago because we don't have the funds and since I'm the newest I was the first to go. They hired me because they were supposed to have the penguin exhibit done for the summer and that was supposed to be my area. But the biggest donor bailed and they don't have the funds to finish it. Therefore, Musa has no job."

"Well they are stupid for letting you go then," Riven started.

"No, they did the right thing," She sighed.

"Trust me, letting you go was their mistake. I'm the first to contest to that mistake," Riven rubbed the side of Musa's knee with his thumb. He leaned in, staring at the teary-eyed woman.

"Don't Riven. Just please don't. I haven't seen you in two years and your life is as grand as it was when I left it. You have a great job, you live in a beautiful area and you have a beautiful family. Letting me go was the best thing you could have done."

Riven shook his head and heaved a sigh? "Do you think I have it all together? I'm barely holding it together in fact. My fiance left me. She came home one day from work and told me she didn't love me anymore."

Musa's heart lurched forward and she raised her head just enough to look into Riven's eyes. His concerned eyes fell and were replaced with a dark shadow of sadness. Her heart ached for him and she wanted to take his pain away.

Surprised by his response, Musa couldn't help but question, "You were engaged?" She searched his eyes for a lie of some sort, but there was nothing but emptiness and disappointment. His eyes spoke the truth; he was engaged to another woman and it wasn't her.

"I was until November. She was supposed to come here on this family trip with me and I was going to announce it to my parents here but then of course she didn't when she left me," Riven frowned.

"I'm truly sorry Riven," Musa rested the palm of her hand on his shoulder.

"Do you know what the worst part of it was?" Riven narrowed his eyes at Musa.

"What?"

"Throughout everything, I felt as if this was karma somehow biting me in the ass. The same "breakup" speech was the similar to one I gave to you two years ago. I can't even imagine how you felt. God, we were together for six years and I was only with Darcy for less than two. You must have felt like a train wreck."

"I turned out okay, so will you," Musa did her best to give him a reassuring smile.

Riven shook his head, "I keep telling myself that. I keep saying one more day and the pain will go away. Just make it another day and tomorrow it won't hurt as bad."

"You will be fine, I know from experience," Musa paused, searching for the right words to comfort him with. She finished her thoughts with, "The wounds take time to heal."

"Did your wounds heal?"

"From you? I don't know... I just learned how to manage," Musa took a deep breath in, retracting herself from returning to the haphazard moment where Riven had told her that he no longer wanted to be with her. "We were children Riven, we thought we knew what we were doing and we didn't have the slightest clue. We went along with everything until it became complicated."

"Will his woulds ever heal?" Riven couldn't refrain himself from asking.

"Andy," Musa bit her lip and released the tears that were trapped in the corner of her eyes. Slowly, she shook her head no.

"Have I mentioned I hate him?" Riven snarled, clenching his fists.

"Three weeks after you broke up with me, Brandon and Stella forced me to Brandon's New Year's Eve business party. There were many potential bachelors for me and Stella wanted me to stop moping around. I finally agreed to go and that was where I met Andy."

"Sounds like the same time after I broke up with you was when I met Darcy. She was at Red Fountain Corporation working which was where I wanted to get hired in at. She was in charge of the incoming employees," Riven grumbled.

"Bad timing for us I guess," Musa muttered.

"Sounds like it."

"He was everything my father ever wanted me to date and more. He was a successful business man. He was in charge of his own corporation, he had money, he came from a wealthy family, he was charming, he was an eye catcher and he was interested in me. He made me feel like a queen. We were both into music, we both shared the love for Italian gelato and we loved traveling."

"What went wrong?" Riven forced himself ask the question.

Musa leaned her head back, biting her lip until she tasted blood. Tears ran down her face and she didn't dare to move to wipe them as she was afraid more would fall. After a few seconds of silence, Musa managed to whisper the very words that deafened Riven's ears,"I got pregnant."

"You were pregnant?" Riven whispered.

Musa responded by nodding her head.

"What? How? Just, gosh, wait, please don't answer that. I know how, but how? What happened?" Riven fired all of the questions and comments that spewed out of his mouth at Musa.

"I don't know..." Musa took a deep breath in. She didn't continue telling until Riven leaned over grabbing her hand with his. He held onto her hand with his and caressed the top of it with his thumb.

"It was about nine months ago, I found out I was pregnant. It was unplanned, but Andy and I were so excited. We had told our parents and we were planning the rest of our lives together. I was supposed to move in with him. I thought were were going to spend the rest of our lives together and I thought we loved each other. Then six months ago, I had a miscarriage, fourteen weeks in my pregnancy. I suffered from cervical insufficiency and I lost the baby. I was devastated," Musa paused, "Andy was devastated."

"I didn't know," Riven started to say.

"We didn't tell many people," Musa commented.

"I'm so sorry Musa."

"I didn't know what to do. It was horrible. For I've never felt something more real and gut wrenching then being in the hospital and being told that news. I got even worse news when the doctor said I might never be able to have children. At first, Andy was really supportive of me. He was there for me, then suddenly he stopped. One day, he came home from work and told me he couldn't try having a family again. He said he couldn't handle receiving that news again and he didn't know if he wanted to be with me anymore. He started growing distant and he stopped wanting to be around me. We started fighting more and more and he told me just needed time."

"I tried giving him time, but then he started seeing other woman. I moved back into my apartment and kept my distance. Then I felt like a slap in the face. He slept with another woman a few weeks ago and I was waiting around for him to change his mind and come home to me. I was wrong in more ways than one. It's like everyone has somebody,"

"But me?" Riven finished for her.

"Exactly," Musa breathed.

"I'm sorry Musa."

"Stella called this morning to share her excitement with me that she's pregnant. It brought up so many wonderful, yet horrible memories," Musa said.

"Musa, I'm so sorry. I would have been there for you, if I would have known," Riven leaned in, pulling Musa into an embrace. To his surprise, she hugged back, clenching on the back of his shirt. Neither of the two moved their bodies as they sat on the couch, breathing in unison and afraid to pull away from one another because they might just feeling something enigmatic that they shouldn't.

"I'm sorry life hasn't turned out how either of us planned for it," Musa muttered into his ear.

"Me too Musa, me too."

* * *

And I'm cutting it off there. I'll try to get the next chapter up quicker than what this one did!

Thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter VII

VII.

I know last chapter was a bit emotional, heartfelt and sort of depressing. This chapter is a much lighter and more hearty one. This one is a shorter filler one, so I apologize. But I want this story to be longer than what I intended it to be, so I'm drawing out each moment.

If anyone is confused on the story time setting, I have listed it below.

The first two chapters and part of the third chapter were set on December 21st. The rest of chapter 3, and all of chapter four and five set on the date of December 22nd. Chapter six and this chapter take place on December 23rd.

My readers are fantastic; Thanks again _eema, Fairy Princess Moon, musariven fan, Guest, SplendidForever, xxx-benedictbrothersfan-xxx, and MeltingLTwitter_.

* * *

After holding onto one another, Musa readjusted her body onto the couch and Riven held onto her as she laid down. He played with the ends of her hair and let the silence speak between the two. Using his old trick of playing with her hair, she soon fell back to sleep. He yawned, not sure if he was able to go back to sleep after their personal and emotional interaction between one another.

In the meantime of Musa's slumber, he stood up and stretched. He crept away from the couch in the den and stepped into the kitchen. He turned on the light and wandered to the refrigerator. After moments of staring into the stainless box, he decided on preparing breakfast for his family.

"Riven, what are you doing up?" Lucas asked, approaching the kitchen counter.

Startled by his father's presence, Riven jumped slightly and dropped the orange juice onto the counter. "Musa couldn't sleep so we were out in the den talking. She finally fell back asleep and I can't sleep now so I decided I'm hungry and am going to make breakfast for everyone."

"What were you talking about? You kids should get more sleep," Lucas grinned, nodding at his son. He walked over to refrigerator and opened the door, carefully grabbing a dozen of eggs from it. "Let me help you."

Riven turned around to face his father and he leaned his back up against the edging of the counter. "I don't know, I guess just life."

Lucas laughed, shaking his head at his son. "You know those life conversations are dangerous. That's how your mother and I ended up together. Those conversations are addicting and if you don't watch, you will soon end up together."

"Dad, Musa and I are friends. After everything that we have been through, we are entitled to that," Riven grumbled. He opened the cabinet door and pulled out the pancake mix. Leaning down into the next cabinet, he pulled out one of his mother's Juliska Berry threaded mixing bowl. Carelessly, he began dumping the box of pancake mix into the bowl.

"Is that all you want to be? You have a history and you have a bond that is inseparable," Lucas sighed, turning on the first large burner to the oven cook top. He walked over the cabinet, pulling out a glass measuring cup and filling it with water for the pancake mix.

Riven groaned, shooting his father a glare. "This is my third day home and you are all ready hounding me about my relationship with Musa. I don't get to have the relationship that Roy and Layla have. Musa and I are friends and that's all that we will ever be. Besides, she has someone else."

"You and her have a past, and that counts more than what she has with someone else. Look son, if you want to be with her then you need to do it now before you one day wake up and regret letting her go. She's wonderful and we want her to officially be apart of our family, but if you don't, then you need to keep some distance. I'm worried Musa might take the wrong hint that you want more than a friendship and get hurt again."

"This isn't your place to step your foot in something where it doesn't belong. Musa isn't a frail object that gets hurt. She's a strong woman and if I'm not in her life and we don't end up together, she isn't going to die. Like I said, she's moved on from me and has someone more prominent in her life. There isn't anything I can do to change that. Now would you get off my back about this?" Riven hissed, obviously annoyed by his father's intentions.

"I'll stop tampering with this once you say that you aren't in love with her," Lucas grinned at his youngest son.

"Who said I ever stopped?" Riven shrugged his shoulders and began mixing the pancake mix, ignoring his father.

"The past can hurt, but the way I see it, you can either run from it or learn from it," Lucas spoke up, after moments of silence between his youngest son and him.

Riven groaned, setting down the mixing spoon. "Not the Lion King quotes again."

Lucas laughed, knowing he had touched Riven even if it was for a moment. "All right, all right. I'll drop the subject. Let's talk about more imperative things other than your love life. Tell me about work and living somewhere not in Gardenia.

* * *

"Musa, hey," Riven said loud enough for Musa to hear.

Groggily, Musa lifted her head up from the couch cushion that she had buried her head into. "Huh?"

"I made you breakfast," Riven chimed, setting it down on the t.v. tray that was positioned next to the couch.

"Breakfast? For me?" Musa mumbled, sitting up off the couch. She looked at the tray of food in front of her. Assorted on the plate in front of her was two chocolate chip pancakes, butter, sausage links, eggs, hash browns and a glass of orange juice.

"Chocolate chip pancakes, just how you like them," Riven grinned

"Wow thanks," Musa who was surprised, smiled up at Riven. She could tell that neither of them wanted to talk about their emotional situations again. It was a one time conversation for now and Musa was thankful for that.

Musa first took a drink of the orange juice and then spoke up, "I haven't had breakfast brought to me in bed since you used to do it here at the cabin. It all looks great, thanks," Musa smiled.

Riven laughed, "After what I've been hearing about Andy, I'm not surprised. He doesn't sound like the bed in breakfast kind of guy."

"That's true," Musa placed her orange juice back on the table. "It's surprising that you are one of those guys. Mr. Hotshot who never shows emotion and is always in control, can sometimes be genuinely nice," Musa teased, pretend punching him in the shoulder.

"Oh and for someone who seems all small and nice all the time can actually be a dick. Remember in high school when you chose to date Skye over me? You dated him for like a year and made me suffer."

"Oh God, Skye," Musa groaned, tossing her head back and let out a loud, sharp laugh. "That was so freshman year, unfortunately."

"Remember when he cheated on you with Bloom and you went off on him in history class after you had found out," Riven chuckled at the memory.

Musa closed her eyes, remembering the situation. "It was in Saladin's history class. Stella had told me after she had found out from Brandon who was one of Skye's basketball teammates. I confronted him about it nicely."

"You tore him to pieces," Riven laughed. "If I remember, I think you told him he was a useless piece of shit and that he could go die."

Musa winced, "I don't think I was that mean was I?"

"That was me being you being nicer than what you were," Riven laughed.

"Well he was a dick and I'm glad that ended my freshman year not later in high school," Musa commented.

"You were so heartbroken if I remember," Riven coed, making fun of Musa.

She shoved him in his shoulder, "Hey, that was my 'first' love okay."

"You thought he was the one," Riven mocked.

"Those wounds definitely healed," Musa commented, annoyed by her younger, naive self.

"Are you sure? You were pretty dead set he was the one you were supposed to love forever," Riven winked in Musa's direction.

Musa laughed, shoving him in the shoulder. "Shut up."

"I remember when he tried winning you back," Riven growled.

"Yeah, and I remember you telling him to back off and that I was yours," Musa stuck out her tongue at Riven. "If I remember, you slammed him into the lockers."

"Well I didn't want to lose you again. I had already suffered watching you date Skye for a year, I wasn't going to suffer again in high school for you to date another man. You were attractive Musa and if I wouldn't have acted upon you, then someone else would have."

"You're lucky I said yes," Musa laughed.

"Well you're lucky I'm always there to pick up the pieces," Riven grinned, leaning back into the couch.

"I guess you are, huh?" Musa shrugged her shoulder and brought her plate to her chest where she began to nibble on her food.

"I guess so," Riven finished their conversation for both of them.

Once the silence set in, Riven stood up, stretching his arms above his head. As he stretched his arms, his shirt lifted above his stomach and showed his toned abs. Musa couldn't help but stare and her face went red. Riven, who knew she was staring, kept his stretch longer than what he normally would have.

After a few seconds of him stretching and Musa staring, he coughed, bringing both of them back to reality. "I'm going to go shower and get ready for today. Eat up and then get ready, we are going to go into town," Riven walked towards the hallway, but not before glancing back one last time at Musa who was sitting on the couch still smiling.


	8. Chapter VIII

Hey everyone, sorry for such a late chapter posting. But this one is really long, so it makes up for the delay. It has taken me awhile to figure out what I wanted to write. I wanted to get it posted as soon as possible, so there might be some errors that I will fix when I refresh my thinking later today. I've been staring at this thing for over two hours now, just trying to tweak it.

I would like to give a round of applause, a special thanks, a shout out, whatever you want to call it to these wonderful readers: _xxxMusarockz, Guest, SplendidForever, Guest, Musariven Fan, wildlife1103, Fairy Princess Moon,and xxx-benedictbrothersfan-xxx._

Y'all are fantastic! Your feedback is always encouraged!

Chapter VIII

* * *

Musa stood in the doorway, dressed in her woolrich peacoat, dark wash skinny jeans and Kate Spade leather boots. She wrapped her assorted color Wallace Sewell scarf around her neck. The woven fabric was then tucked into the front of her peacoat.

"Glad to see that you're finally ready," Riven tossed Musa a grin.

"Please, you're the one that had to fix your hair. I've been waiting forever now," Musa dramatically emphasized, taking a long glance look at her fossil watch on her left wrist.

"You two be careful," Lisa spoke up from the kitchen as she rolled out the cookie dough with her great grandmother's Italian marble rolling pin.

"Oh it isn't just us two, Timmy and Techna are coming with us," Musa grinned, ignoring Riven's prior protests for it to just be the two of them.

"Well you kids have fun," Grandma Faragonda took her eyes away from the Christmas movie that was on the television screen.

"Mother, we will be fine. Besides, today is supposed to the best weather Musa and I have ever gotten when we go into the village," Riven firmly responded.

A sharp groan escaped Musa's mouth, "Great, he jinxed us."

"Musa, if you need to take the wheel, do it," Layla laughed as she began sorting through the totes of Christmas ornaments and lights. Tonight was the night they were going to all decorate the Christmas tree.

Musa carefully stalked to the truck, hoping to avoid any slipping on the ice. She knew how her boots lacked traction. Once she made it to the truck, she performed her usual routine. Shaking out the snow on her boots, she opened the truck door. Griping the side of the truck, she tucked her arm into the body of the truck and grabbed the bar, pulling herself into the polyester bucket seats.

"Brr, it's cold, Riven hurry," Musa huddled her body together and she rubbed her hands repeatedly to produce extra heat.

"Musa, I cannot control how much cold air the truck blows out," Riven growled, turning on the defrost. As the truck began to heat up, Timmy and Techna soon approached from the front of the house. Hand-in-hand, they gracefully leaned on each other and walked towards the truck.

"They are so cute," Musa coed, admiring the couple through the review mirrors.

"I'm surprised someone wants to Marry Techna," Riven muttered, ignoring the pleasant appearance of the future bride and groom.

"Ow what was that for?" Riven rubbed his arm where Musa had recently smacked him.

"Be nice, she's your cousin and she happens to be getting married before you," Musa toothed a grin.

"How and the hell that happened, I"ll never know," Riven growled. He earned another hit in his arm.

The door opened, letting in a flow of cold air. "Way to go Tech, Musa finally stopped complaining about it being cold."

Ignoring her cousin's remark, Techna beamed at Musa, "Thanks for inviting us."

"Yeah no problem. Timmy you are in for a real treat, this place is absolutely wonderful," Musa gushed.

For the first part of the drive, Musa and Riven conversed with one another while Timmy and Techna conversed with one another. The second twenty minute part of the drive was silence. Riven focused on driving in the road and Musa stared into the snowy scenery that rested before her eyes. The soft Christmas music seemed to speak for everyone in the vehicle. Musa hadn't really been thinking about anything until a break on the side of the road caught her attention. It brought her back to the first Christmas she had spent with Riven and his family.

 _"Are you sure you're going the right way?" Musa asked once again, straining her eyes to see into the white bliss. It was white everywhere._

 _"Musa, can you be quiet so I can focus on the road," Riven spat, clearly annoyed with his overly concerned girlfriend. In response to his outbreak, she slid further in the truck seat._

 _"Fine, but I'm not going to stop hanging onto the oh-shit bar," Musa glanced up, referring to the handle positioned on the roof of the interior truck. She closed her eyes, silently praying for her life._

 _After another few minutes of attempting to drive, Riven sighed. "I'm going to have to pull over in this side pathway on the side of the road. We still have at least a half hour ride back to the house and I can't see a thing. We will have to wait til the white out passes."_

 _"So we are stranded out here?" Musa widened her eyes as the truck pulled into a stop._

 _Riven turned his head to face his girlfriend, "We aren't stranded. As soon as the weather lightens up, we can continue our drive back. But for now, we stay and wait out the snow."_

 _"Wait, when will that be?" Musa shrieked and began to panic._

 _"Relax, will you? I've been coming here to the cabin since I was a child. If anything happens, I know how to survive. You're not going to die out here, at least with me you're not," Riven leaned over the truck seat and grabbed Musa's hand. She frowned and gripped onto his hand._

 _"What if we run out of gas and I freeze to death?" Musa grumbled, unbuckling her seat belt to get comfortable._

 _"That won't happen, we have a full tank."_

 _"What if another vehicle hits us and we die?"_

 _"Relax, I have my fore-ways on. Besides, we are the only stupid people to drive in this weather,"_

 _Annoyed by the weather, Musa turned away from her boyfriend. She focused her attention out the passenger side window, not that she could see anything but blowing white snow anyway._

 _"I'm going to die," Musa proclaimed, throwing her arms hopelessly into the air._

 _"Well I guess then you will reincarnate into a yetti?" Riven tried easing with his girlfriend, only to earn the cold shoulder from him._

 _"Musa?" Riven tried to gain her attention once again. She was so cute when she was angry._

 _"What?" She snapped._

 _Riven groaned and exhaled a large throaty cord. He withdrew his hands from his coat pockets and gripped onto the steering wheel. He was doing his best not to get angry. Instead he let out a sharp laugh to follow his groan._

 _"For the last time, I'm sorry."_

 _"She gave you her number Riven. That's when you give it back," Musa argued, refusing to look at him._

 _"I didn't know her intentions," Riven protested, but Musa instantly saw past his bluff._

 _"All right." Riven wasn't surprised that Musa had agreed with him. He knew her tactics. She just wanted him to stop protesting and talking to her. Riven could be just as stubborn. He let the silence fill the air. After a few minutes, he finally had enough._

 _"Jesus Musa, it was one number. I wasn't going to text her anyway," The sixteen year old Riven hollered._

 _"You could have turned it down. You're no better than," Musa was cut off before she could continue with her sentence._

 _"I'm not Sky," Riven shouted, slamming his fist onto the steering wheel column._

 _"I want to go home," Musa whined, ignoring her boyfriend's sudden rage._

 _"Well we fucking can't go home. So just sit there and shut up," Riven caved in, letting his temper get the best of him._

 _"Fine," Musa shouted, sending him a harsh look before she turned her back to him._

 _After a few minutes of complete silence from both parties, Riven finally gave in. He knew his stubborn girlfriend was not going to admit that she was wrong to a degree as well as he was wrong._

 _"I'm sorry," He murmured, releasing his strong grip from his steering wheel. Carefully, he slowly placed his hand over top of hers. He caressed her thumb with his. "I shouldn't have ever yelled at you like that. This, us, it isn't easy for me. I'm not good at this relationship stuff."_

 _Musa stiffened at his touch, but relaxed after a few moments. "I'm sorry too," she whispered._

 _"Musa," Riven said in the most calming tone Musa had ever heard him use._

 _"Hmm?" She looked up at him and stared straight into his eyes._

 _What he was about to say, Musa could have never predicted, especially coming from Riven. "I love you," Riven leaned in for a kiss. Musa turned her head as Riven leaned in. He caught the drift of her hair._

 _"You can't just say I love you to make up for this. That's not how it works," She argued, refusing his physical touch._

 _Riven laughed, grinning at Musa. "I just said I love you and you're arguing about the time I said it. God that is so you."_

 _She shoved his hand off of her leg, "I'm being serious Riven."_

 _He laughed again, pulling her closer to him. "I am too. I love you Musa Pennington. I know you love me too. So stop refusing me." He placed his hand on the side of Musa's face and turned her face towards his. " I'm sorry about the number, I will never ever take another girl's number, as long as I'm with you." He met his lips with hers._

 _After a long, passionate kiss and a smile spread across her face, Musa responded back, "I love you too."_

Musa was brought back to reality when Riven turned off the truck. They had finally arrived at the exclusive, secluded Christmas village that was forty-five minutes away from their cabin. They snowy, Christmas-themed village was stationed in the middle of nowhere.

"You're always doing that," Riven commented on her typical behavior after they had both climbed out of the truck.

Raising her eyebrows, she questioned, "Doing what?"

"Living in your head. When you're not talking, you're thinking. I think you should just enjoy the moment."

"Maybe you don't think enough?" Musa retaliated.

"Mmm, maybe not," He shrugged his shoulders, pulling out the key from the engine.

"We made it," Musa smiled, closing the truck door behind her. She was anxious to return to the village that she had been absence from the last two years.

"Ahh, it smells like Christmas!" Musa absorbed in the atmosphere around her.

"Again, Christmas doesn't have a smell," Riven laughed. The group abandoned the truck in the snowy covered parking lot and walked towards the entrance to the village. It really was captiavating. Each building represented a Christmas theme. The bricks were trimmed and framed with snow, wreaths, tinsel and any other Christmas decoration that fit within the decor. There were machines to spray fake snow when there wasn't any real snow and there were machines to spray cinnamon and Christmas related smells.

Timmy and Techna trailed behind them, enjoying each other's company. "I've never been here," Techna commented.

Musa twirled around, engulfing herself with the full effect of the village. "One of my favorite parts of the village is the costumes. Each employee here has a specific Christmas related costume they have to wear. I love the Christmas tree printed aprons."

"Timmy, feel my pain," Riven pleaded.

Timmy glanced into the bright, lively village. "I think I will before long."

"This is wonderful Riven," Musa chimed, ignoring Riven's state of mind.

"Where do you want to go first?" Riven suggested to Musa. Instead of responding, she was to absorbed into the front entrance. "Wow, they changed the exterior design of the gate. Where are the steel rod gates?"

"It's going to be a long day," Riven tossed Timmy a 'help me' glance.

"I think we are going to break off and go get a snack. I want to explore the Christmas village with Timmy," Techna laughed, leaving Musa tugging on Riven's hand towards the entrance to the village.

"So what were you thinking about on the drive here?" Riven, against his will, followed Musa as she weaved her way through the mass crowd of people in the Christmas village.

Musa laughed, "God, another one of our episodes."

"Which one?"

"Remember the first time we came to the village?"

"Yeah and we got stuck in the snow?"

"And you got that girl's number? The one who worked in the popcorn and hot chocolate stand?"

Riven leaned his head to the left. It was a habit he had when he was either thinking or annoyed. In this case, it was both. "I was hoping I would never have to hear about that again."

Musa and Riven laughed at the memory together. "If I remember right, we got stranded on the road for over an hour until the whiteout let up."

"You got that right."

"Do you remember when you kept saying you were going to die? I was about to push you out of the truck to leave you to die," Riven earned a push from Musa. As she pushed him away, he pulled her into his side. As her face was burning up, she searched the area for something to change the subject between them.

"I want an ornament, we should go into the ornament shop." Musa quickly changed the subject and grasped onto Riven's hand with her and she pulled him across the brick street towards the little corner shop. She stepped into the shop and gleamed with excitement from the thousands of glass bulbs.

"God, I still have each of my bulbs from here!" Musa excitedly stated. She stepped around the Christmas tree, admiring the multitude of glass objects.

"I'm not surprised," Riven laughed.

Musa searched through the ornaments hung on the tree. She wandered around each tree, searching for the the tree that she always pulled her bulbs from. She searched through the plastic ornament tree, the Disney-themed ornament tree, the holiday explosion tree, the clear crystal cycles tree, the plastic bulb tree and many other trees with numerous ornaments hooked upon the branches. and finally she weaved her way to the casing of trees along the back wall.

"Italian glass," Riven finished for her. Ever since he had brought Musa to the village, she would always get an Italian glass ornament. Of course she had the most expensive taste. They were not cheap ornaments.

"These are my favorite. My mom loved these," Musa gushed, tracing her fingers across one of the multi-colored, swirled Murano glass ornament. Her eyes searched the back wall until she saw the one she wanted.

"I want this one," Musa stepped towards the bulb. It was decorated with different hues of blues, yellows, and greens. "I don't have a color like this one yet. It's absolutely beautiful."

"Is that all you want?"

"I think I'm good on one. After all, I probably shouldn't be spending money on a ton of ornaments. I still need to find another job," Musa laughed, still admiring the ornament on the back wall. Carefully, she lifted the hook off of the tree and carefully walked to the front of the store to the register.

"I absolutely love this glass," The lady on the register commented. She turned her back to Musa and Riven with the ornament and proceeded to wrap the ornament up in the proper packaging.

"Are you going to add it to your Christmas tree next year?" Riven questioned.

Musa opened her mouth, but closed it. Where was she going to be next Christmas? Was she even going to put up a Christmas tree next year? She could always put it on her father's tree. Would she even be with anyone next year to share Christmas with?

"That will be $56.00 please," The lady returned to the register with the ornament. Musa had been brought back to reality after she had been thinking about next year's Christmas. Sudden realization had hit here that there would be no more Christmas's at Riven's ever again in her entire life. A pit had formed in her stomach.

"Here," Riven pulled out his credit card and handed it to the lady.

Musa turned to look at him, "What are you doing? You aren't spending money on my ornament," Musa fished for her wallet in her bag.

"Too late, it's already paid for," Riven grinned, accepting the receipt and the pen from the cashier. Quickly, he signed his name across the dotted line and handed back the paper and pen.

"I can't believe you," Musa grumbled. She smiled and thanked the cashier before scolding at Riven once again.

"He must really care for you," The cashier gushed, waving the "couple" goodbye.

"Just think of it as my gift to you after forgetting your birthday two years ago."

"I forgot about that," Musa stomped her foot on the ground.

A groan escaped from Riven's mouth, "Of course. I bring back the one memory that I messed up that you actually forgot."

"But I guess we are even," Musa grinned, clutching her ornament bag.

After stepping out of the ornament shop, Musa and Riven rounded the corner and turned back to main street. They were stopped by a gentlemen with a camera. "Excuse me, would you two like a picture in front of the holiday tree?"

Musa and Riven exchanged glances, both shrugging their shoulders. "Sure, do you mind taking it on my phone?" Musa pulled her iPhone out of her pocket and handed it to the man. He eagerly took it as Musa and Riven walked to the front of the tree. Riven wrapped his arm around Musa and they smiled for the camera.

"Thank you," Musa took back her phone, admiring the photo. "It's actually a good one."

"It's only because I'm in the photo."

"Of course," Musa rolled her eyes.

"Hey, lemme take a selfie," Riven joked, holding his phone out in front of him and Musa. Together, the two took a photo in front of the carriage ride. "I'm sharing this to Instagram. Riven's fingers scrolled across his phone screen for a few seconds.

"What hashtag did you use?" Musa questioned him as he tucked his phone back into his coat pocket.

Sighing, Riven dug his phone back out of his pocket and handed his phone to her.

Musa examined the photo. "I like the filter you used," Musa added. She scrolled beneath the photo and saw his use of "#Christmas #Santababy #ChristmasVillage.

"How creative," Musa handed back his phone.

Throughout the village, Musa and Riven wandered into several different shops. It wasn't until Riven and Musa wandered into the chocolate shop with the old man. Musa stepped into the shop. Nothing had changed; in fact, the chocolate glass casings were to the right and the homemade candies were stationed on the left wall. There were a few other small families searching through the shop. She was hit with waves of nostalgia and suddenly she realized how much she had missed the last two years.

"Well I'll be darned," A deep, husky voice sprouted.

Musa knew that voice anywhere. Except this time, the voice was more raspy and softer than what it normally sounded like. "Harold, how are you?" Musa leaned in to hug the older man. After pulling away from the hug, she took a step back and gave him a harder look. He had surely aged from the last time she had an encounter with him. His glasses were pushed up to the bridge of nose, he had a limp in his left leg and his back was more hunched over than what she remembered. His body appeared to be older, but his spirit was still as young as ever.

"I haven't seen you around here in a while," He smiled, holding out his hand for Riven to shake.

"I've been away for awhile."

"I can't believe you two are still together," He smiled, admiring the two standing there together.

"Actually," Musa began to say but was cut off by the old man again.

"You two remind me of my wife and I when we were your age." The comment made Musa's heart break and Riven sighed slightly, resting his hand upon her shoulder.

Come to the back with me, I have something for you. He waved Musa and Riven along. They slowly trailed behind him.

"Sit down," He patted the couch in the back room to the shop.

"My wife and I opened this shop many, many years ago. We were the second shop in the village," He began to tell another one of his stories. Musa set her ornament bag on the floor before she leaned forward, her chin propped up with the palms to her hands.

"Harold, I wish she were here," Musa said softly. Harold leaned over and grabbed her hands. "Musa, I do too. She just loved you kids."

"Riven and I were so young when we met you two. Because of you, I love this village so much," Musa gushed, feeling the tears go to her eyes.

Harold smiled before slowly standing up. He turned around and walked over the shelf where the was a gift bag created. "Your boyfriend over here said you would be in and I arranged to have a Christmas gift basket for you. I want you to open it on Christmas. It's all wrapped up in this bag."

"How did you know I would come?" Musa questioned, taking the bag.

Harold sat down beside Musa on the couch, "I just had a hunch."

"Thank you so much, you didn't have too," Musa began, baffled by his generosity. He would always send them back with some sort of chocolate or goody, but never something to this sort.

"Look, I need to tell you two something. You're my favorite customers, practically family. I remember all those years you would come in here and sit and talk with me for hours when no one else would. With all of the people in here, especially after my wife died, it felt lonely."

"Harold, we were honored to get to spend time with you," Riven placed his hand on Musa's shoulder.

"We love coming here," Musa and Riven shared glances with one another. Harold had become a large portion of their

"I won't be here much longer. I just want you to promise me that you will come back each year and make sure this place is doing well. I want to know my business is well taken care of long after I'm gone," Harold gave the two a soft smile. His hand was shaking as he tried taking a sip of his water.

"Of course. We will be back to see you," Musa answered for the both of them. She didn't have the heart to tell him that she would no longer be at the Harrington's for another Christmas or that she and Riven were not together anymore. She couldn't stand to take

Harold frowned at the young "couple." "Unfortunately my dear, I won't be around long enough to see past the new year. My chemo has taken a toll on my body and the doctors only gave me about a month left to live at the latest."

"What?" Musa shrieked, gripping onto Riven's hand.

"I just wanted to say thank you. You really have made the Christmas holdiay's wonderful."

"Harold, is there anything we can do?" Riven withdrew from Musa and rubbed his hands together.

"No, just make sure you enjoy the gift that I have given you two. Everything is taken care of after I die. I know my business will be in good hands. Just do me one favor," Harold spoke in a soft, raspy tone.

"Of course," Musa's voice quivered.

"Whenever things get tough, don't give up. You have a lot of potential and you are both doing great things. Hang in there and hold onto each other because you never know when you won't get another chance too."

"Absolutely," Riven answered for both him and Musa. This was a goodbye that they hadn't expected to encounter on this day.

* * *

Musa wiped her teary eyes as they left the shop. Riven wrapped his arm around shoulder and pulled Musa in close. "Riven," She wailed, letting the tears roll down her cheeks. She could have swore she saw a tear roll down Riven's cheek as well.

"That's so sad Riven," Musa grumbled. Suddenly, she was no longer in the mood to eat any of the chocolates that she had bought.

"It will be okay," Riven rubbed his hand across her back to comfort both her and himself. He hadn't known losing Harold would hurt as bad as it did. It was almost like losing his own grandparent.

After what seemed like minutes, the two pulled away from one another. Musa wiped her tears away from her face and the two walked down the main aisle in silence. Rounding the corner of one of the buildings, they had run into the Techna and Timmy. Techna and Timmy had a few assorted bags. "Hey! You're right Musa, this place is fantastic."

Musa looked up, hoping that it looked like she had not been crying. "I told you so. What did you think Timmy?"

"It has a lot of history and the architecture is quite nice. I wouldn't mind studying this area a bit. I do think I enjoyed it," Timmy answered affirmatively.

"Before we go, we should get some hot chocolate," Techna suggested. Her legs had been shaking from the bitter cold wind. She wouldn't mind something to help heat her body up.

Musa and Riven glanced in each other's direction and shrugged their shoulders. "Sure, sounds perfect."

Together, the quarto approached the nearest hot chocolate stand. The barista turned around, her eyes were filled with confusion as she sought out who the group of people were. Finally at the same time, it clicked for both Musa and the barista.

"Oh my god, I remember you two," The barista leaned in over the counter and grinned.

Not knowing who she was Riven commented first. "Really?"

"You were the two that would come here every year. I remember the first year I met you, you were with her. I gave you my number and you never did text me. I can give you my number again if you would like?"

Musa interjected, "He didn't need your number years ago, I don't think he needs it now."

"Well I don't see him engaged to you? Obviously there is something wrong," She pointed out.

"We like to take things slow," Musa stammered, obviously frustrated by the rude barista's fronted demeanor.

"Yeah, really slow," Riven eyed Musa, not arguing or denying her word.

"Is it because you got her pregnant didn't you? You're just the baby daddy."

Musa laughed, ignoring the topic that tugged at her heart every time it was brought up. "Yeah, I don't think so."

"Why not? Surely you two aren't single. After all, who would be crazy to give up this vibrant gem right here?" The barista pointed a finger and tossed it in Riven's direction.

"Oh we're together," Musa shoved Riven aside and glared right into the barista's brown eyes.

"God. Together for this long and still no kids or engagement ring? He must not be into you that much," She examined her manicured nails. Musa glared at the barista, silently scolding herself for not wearing her mother's ring. She had put it away for the day out after she had showered.

"I'm sorry we have jobs and we can't work and serve hot chocolate for nine years now. We have better things to do with our time then comment on other people's relationships," Musa snapped, releasing the claws that she had been holding in.

"Honey, I think you should calm down," Riven laughed, playing along. After all, he did owe Musa from years ago by taking her number.

"Are you two going through a tough time?" She questioned, batting her eyes at Riven.

"No we are doing just fine," Musa growled, answering for the both of them.

Ignoring Musa's attitude, the woman leaned towards Riven, blocking out Musa from her eyesight. Bringing her hand from the other side of the counter, she placed her hand on Riven's arm."I think your lady over here is quite angry. Maybe you should try something new? You should kiss her under the mistletoe. Look?" The barista pointed up.

Musa and Riven both looked up to find the green and red mistletoe hanging from the sign up above.

"We aren't much for kissing in public," Riven answered for the both of them.

The barista laughed, "Well that answers it then. You two are single and don't love each other."

"No we do," Musa almost shouted. She turned to look at Riven. He gave her an uneasy look, one that she happened to be familiar all to well with.

"Then kiss him."

"Fine!" She grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer to her body. With one last glance, she looked at the mistletoe and then placed her lips on Rivens'. Nothing could have prepared for them what happened next. Not a nuclear war, not an explosion, not even an earthquake. Passion flooded both of them and neither of them wanted to pull apart from the kiss. After a few seconds, they both pulled away, hiding their blushes from Techna and Timmy who were easily amused behind them.

"Here are your hot chocolates," The barista handed the four hot chocolates to the group. Riven quickly distributed the drinks out between one another.

"I'll see you later, sweet thing," She winked at Riven before the four walked away.

...

"I hate that woman," Musa spat. She stopped in her tracks once they had approached the stone fountain. Out of curiosity, she brought her hot chocolate to her lips and took a sip.

"I'm surprised she didn't try to poison my drink," Musa said with finality. Tucking her peacoat underneath her, she crouched down to sit down on the cold, damp stone blocks.

"So you're dating now?" Techna laughed, bringing her hot chocolate to her plum-coated lips. "Mmm, cinnamon. It's my favorite."

"She's renowned for giving me a hard time and being a bitch," Musa declared by raising her voice. A couple walked by, glaring at Musa for using profane language in a family-oriented area.

"Oh God, here we go again," Riven groaned, pacing around. He wasn't over the kiss that he and Musa had just dauntingly shared. It had been more than he thought he could take in. He never thought that kissing Musa could be that satisfying.

"Years ago," Musa threw her arms up in the air and nearly leaped from the fountain seating. "This is huge," Musa took a deep breath and began to tell the story.

...

"I'm going to die with this One time. We were together for like two and a half months," Riven exclaimed, defending his own side to the story.

"So that's it?" Timmy questioned.

"That was the wrong thing to say, Techna scolded her fiance for being so naive.

"I despise her!" Musa sat back down on the edge of the stone encasing the fountain.

"The moral lesson of this is, don't try and take away what's Musa's. She doesn't share very well," Riven winked at Musa and laughed. He earned a laugh from everyone in the group.

"If it's any consolation, I take your side Musa." Techa

"The bitch had to go down," Timmy agreed, causing everyone let out the laugh they were all holding in.

Techna's eyes focused on Riven. She watched Riven leave Timmy's side. He approached the front of the fountain where Musa was currently sitting. Being a gentlemen, Riven held out his left hand for Musa to take. He courteously assisted Musa off the stone. Neither of them released each other's hands. Instead, they poked fun at each other and held onto each other, both afraid to be the first one to let go. They were so oblivious to the obvious feelings they had for one another. The physical and emotional tension was there and everyone could feel it growing.

"Time to go home and eat? I'm starving," Timmy glanced down at his rubmling stomach.

"Of course, we still have a Christmas tree to decorate," Musa beamed up at Riven.

"Musa's second favorite thing," Riven shook his head.

* * *

Once the crew had gotten into the truck, Musa immediately withdrew from Riven and turned on the radio to overcast any other possible form of conversation. She couldn't stop thinking about kissing Riven. Internally, she was panicking. Her mind was swirling with thoughts that were consuming her insides. She planned on calling Stella as soon as they got back to the cabin. She was going to feign an excuse that her father was calling and she needed some privacy. Everyone would believe her right? She was so lost in her thoughts that she forgot how tired she was. She hadn't slept much the night before and she was in a dire need of a nap. They still had to eat dinner, decorate the Christmas tree and perform any necessities before Christmas Eve. It all sounded exhausting.

Musa yawned and wiped her eyes. Groggily, she curled her head up against the side of the door, pulled her coat into her body and quickly fell asleep.

"Musa," Riven shook her arm to wake her.

"Huh?" Musa murmured, refusing to lift her head off the door. She didn't want to wake up from her nap as she was still tired.

"It's time to go inside. We have arrived back at our destination," Riven leaned over the console, unbuckling her seat belt. Feeling his touch against her hipbone, Musa jumped. She quickly lifted her head up and stared into Riven's deep blue eyes.

"Look what happened back there," Musa began, searching for the right words. She didn't want to apologize for kissing him because she wasn't. In fact, kissing him was the most exuberant thing she had done in awhile.

Riven grinned, leaning his body across the seat. He was so close to her her face; his nose was almost touching hers. Musa gulped, feeling the heat radiating from all over her body. Suddenly, the the atmosphere intensified as Riven clasped his hand over her tight. He moved away from her nose and leaned in towards her neck. Slowly, he kissed her collar bone, working his way up towards her ear. Leaving a trail of hot breath on her neck, he stopped at her ear lobe. He breathed in her ear,"Stop... You can't tell me you don't feel it too."

Musa felt her heart was going to beat out of her chest. She sucked in a deep breath and exhaled, trying to relieve herself of the feeling that she was suffocating. Hot flashes went up her spine and her face was reddening. If she stayed in the truck any longer, she wouldn't able to think clearly and let her raging hormones get the best of her in the situation that was about to unfold between them. Musa fought the temptation and pulled away.

"Look, we should go inside," Musa grumbled, suddenly feeling guilty of the events that unfolded throughout the day. Thankful her seat belt was already undone, she was able to duck away from her and quickly scramble out of the truck seat. Quickly, she darted for the door. She didn't even look back to notice Riven's sudden look of confusion and guilt. Angrily, he slammed his fist onto the steering wheel and swore profanity to no one.


	9. Chapter IX

Hey everyone, I apologize for the delay in this story. I went on vacation and college has started back up. Senior year is crazy, hectic, frantic, you know how it goes...

As usual, my reviewers dedication, passion and patience (well maybe on this one) are the basis of my drive. So here's a special shout out to Guest, MeltingLTwitter, musariven fan, SplendidForever, doodlebugsie, Guest, xxxmusarockz, fairy princess moon, guest, and xxx-benendictbrothersfan-xxx! Seriously, y'all are fantastic and I can't ask for a better fan base.

Warning alert: the chapter gets pretty steamy. Because I have waited so long to update this chapter, I figured I mine as well give the readers(you) both an insight to Musa and Riven's previous relationship and another good, pleasuring moment. This is supposed to be a chapter about closeness, passion, romance and well you get the point...

 **Do not read if you are not mature enough to handle the sexual content!**

Here's the next chapter ladies and gentlemen.

Chapter IX

* * *

Before the decoration of the Christmas tree, everyone was taking a moment to engage in some downtime activities. Timmy and Techna were in the living room, working on a holiday Christmas puzzle; Roy and Lucas were outside gathering firewood as Grandma Faragonda and Lisa worked on wrapping presents the last minute Christmas presents while Roxy and Layla sat around the loft with Musa and Riven, whom sat on opposite sides of the room. Musa huddled herself into the chair while Riven and Layla sat on the couch as Roxy played with her two barbie dolls on the table.

At first he felt awkward and uncomfortable, but now Riven was just annoyed. He wasn't for sure if it was the taunting grin that Musa kept displaying across her red lips or if it was the fact that she was now ignoring him. Either way, he was annoyed and her lips quivering into that smirk was driving him insane.

"Uncle Riven, what's wrong?" Roxy stammered, shaking the side of his leg with her hand. Quickly, Riven fixed his facial expression of annoyance to indifferent.

Letting out a sharp laugh, he exhaled and responded, "I'm not."

"That's not what mommy says," Roxy- one who is way to honest- finished her sentence.

Across the room, Musa raised her eyebrow at him. "Roxy, why don't you go tell your mommy that I'm not a liar?" Riven glanced down at the young child and gave her a quick, half-smile.

"Mommy said you would do this," Roxy admitted. "She said that you like Musa over there but you are too stubborn to admit it. Is that true?"

"You're mom is right, I do like Musa," Riven grumbled. He had nothing to lose at that point. Musa hadn't talked to him through dinner with his family. Actually, she hadn't talked to him since she had exited the truck hours prior.

It wasn't until he had asked her to hang out in the loft with him, Layla and Roxy when she talked to him. She had spent the last hour and a half conversing with Grandma Faragonda, Lisa and Layla. She had even sat across the table from him and avoided all eye contact.

"Then why aren't you dating her?" Roxy questioned, glancing between an honest Riven and unhappy, confused Musa.

"Because Musa is stubborn," Riven pointed out.

"Mommy says you are stubborn too."

"Wow, your mommy sure does tell you a lot," Riven shot a glare at Roxy, but quickly covered the glare up with a smile. He didn't want Roxy picking up on anything more than what she already had.

"All right, all right... That's quite enough Roxy. Why don't you leave Uncle Riven alone. Let's give these two some time so they can talk about grown up stuff and we will go help Timmy and Techna build a puzzle."

"But I want to hear their conversation. Is he going to ask Musa to marry him? I like Musa... and I like being around Uncle Riven, he doesn't come around anymore and neither does she," Roxy protested, crossing her arms over her chest. Layla shot the two young adults an apology look.

Neither Riven nor Musa said anything to the child. Neither one of them actually knew what to say or how to respond to the child's truthful question. It was true that Riven and Musa weren't together. It was also true that neither of them had been around Roxy since the last time they had dated.

"Are you going to be my aunty Musa?" Roxy shifted her attention away from Riven and turned it towards Musa. Before Musa could get out an answer, Layla entered into the conversation.

"Roxy, we are going to build the puzzle now" Layla growled, tugging on the small left hand, pulling her out of the doorway and closing the oak door behind her.

"Since when did she grow up so fast?" Musa watched the door close.

"You kissed me first," Riven pointed out, ignoring Musa's change of the subject.

Musa groaned, leaning her head back into the plush couch. She wrinkled her eyebrows and closed her eyes. She just couldn't admit to herself that she had kissed Riven. It was out of spite, jealousy and a bit of passion that was raging in her chest from the course of the last few days. Being around Riven brought up many unwanted feelings; the tension between them was enigmatic. She just couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Why can't you just admit it," Riven crossed his arms over his chest, letting an egocentric smirk form.

"It was petty Riven, can't you just extrapolate the idea from your head and forget this ever happened?" Musa mumbled, drawing her legs to her chest. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Glancing down, the name Stella appeared across her the screen. She knew she could use it as an excuse to leave the room, but for some reason she couldn't leave the room. It wasn't as if she didn't want to leave, she couldn't. Shoving the phone back into her sweatshirt pocket, Musa decided she would return the phone call later. For now, she had to clean up the mess she created with Riven.

"God this is so like you," Riven snapped, exhaling a breath out of his throat.

Musa picked up on the tone in his voice. Instantly she snapped her head up and narrowed her eyes in on Riven. Her posture shifted upright and her fists clenched at her sides. She was turning to a defensive mode.

"This is so me? Like what? What am I Riven?"

"You're so guarded and always secure. You were always like this," Riven snapped, drawing on previous memories from their relationship.

Raising her voice, "Oh and you were such a walk in the park yourself."

"You're like the fucking Appalachian Mountains. I never know when there is going to be an avalanche with you."

"You never talked about your feelings," Musa argued.

"You never talked about yours. It was always guessing game with you. The worst part was it that I never knew what Musa I was getting towards the end of our relationship," Riven averted her own statement with his.

"Well I'm sorry I was the worst inconvenience that you ever had to deal with. But you know what, I had more respect for you then to break up with you over a text message. Do you know how shitty that was of you?" Musa changed the subject, lashing out her pent up anger on him. She was angry as hell from two years ago. She hadn't realized how much their little conversation of their break up had bothered her.

"God Musa, I made one mistake. Why won't anyone let it go? Not you, not my parents, and not even my own damn grandma. I thought at the time it was the best thing for me."

"The best thing for you? Maybe. But for me? Not quite. You see, you left me in the dark. It happened suddenly. One day you just told me you didn't love me anymore and that was it. You ignored me, blocked my number and didn't talk to me, not even once. Do you know how long I thought there was something wrong with me and then I finally realized it wasn't me, it was you."

Musa took a deep breath and exhaled. This was the first time they had talked about their breakup since it happened two years ago. The anger that she had towards him had relinquished. The tightness in her chest had finally released. She had never felt so free in her entire life.

There was a few seconds of silence before another voice stirred in the room. "You're right," Riven whispered loud enough for her to hear. He raised his head from staring at the ground. "I got a taste of my own medicine this past year. We were together for six years and I owed you more than what I gave you."

"Damn right you do," Musa snapped.

Standing out of the chair, Musa quickly headed for the door. Quicker than Musa had expected, Riven was standing directly in front of her, not letting her move. "But doesn't mean I can't make it up to you. You came here for a reason and you can't deny that."

"Riven move, I'm not in the mood for this," She snapped, trying to use the fiercest voice that she possibly could.

"Hey don't be like this," Riven said in a lighter tone. When she went to step around him, he followed her steps. "I can't let you leave this room Musa," Riven stepped closer to her. As he took a step closer to her body, Musa nervously glanced around the room. Her only option was to take a step back away from him.

"Riven, I can't do this-us,- I want to go home."

Turning his head to the side, Riven laughed and stared into her eyes. She was stubborn and god he enjoyed her energy and fiery attitude. "I don't want you to go home," Riven quickly scooped her up into her arms and he wrestled her to the ground.

She let out a sharp laugh and hollered, "Riven no, please don't." He tickled her sides and she let out another laugh.

"I missed you," Riven exhaled, leaning over the top of her body. His hot breath exhaled on the left side of her collar bone. _Did he have any idea the effect he had on her?_

"Stop it," Musa tried pushing his hand away that was resting on her hip. She knew what he was doing and she didn't know how much longer she could hold out from his grasp.

"I don't want to stop it," Riven whispered, grabbing her hands with his and pinning them down on the ground over the top of her head.

"Riven don't," Musa pleaded, her voice into a hoarse whisper.

"Too late," Riven's face was in front of hers and before she knew it, Riven was kissing her on the lips. Before she knew it, she titled her head to the side and opened up her mouth, allowing for his mouth to be all over hers. She groaned, moving her arms from her side to his. She balled up his shirt with her fingers and pulled him towards her. A sharp groan escaped from his lips.

He pressed his lips harder into hers and she responded affirmatively. Pulling him closer to her body, she began raking her nails across the back of his shirt. Slowly, her cool hands slip up the back of his shirt, grazing his skin.

"God," Riven groaned; he responded to her grazing touch by kissing down her jawline towards her neck.

Enjoying the moment, Musa pulled Riven's t-shirt over his head, exposing his muscular abs. She groaned at the look of them and closed her eyes. Riven smirked, enjoying the thought of Musa enjoying him. Carelessly, she tossed his inside-out t-shirt on top of arm to the reclining chair.

Quickly, Musa pushed Riven off of her and switched positions with him. She straddled his lap and he reached up, grasping the zipper to her jacket. Quickly, he jerked the zipper down, tearing the jacket off of her arms. Like Musa had done to his shirt, he threw the jacket away from their bodies. He reached up and rubbed the sides of her arms. In the process of rubbing her arms, he eyed her body. Starting with her face, he followed her eyes down to her chest, where he stopped for a moment. She was a goddess and he wanted to absorb every moment of her body he could. Slowly, he lifted his eyes back towards her eyes.

"God, you're perfect," Riven murmured, barely coherent. He slowly rubbed his hands down the outside of her arms. He moved towards the inside of her arms and stopped at her hip bones. He found his hands sliding her tank to up and exposing her bare skin. His fingertips grazed her skin. The sensation made her to bite her lip and throw her head back. Slowly, he rubbed her bare skin of her stomach and he then made circles with his thumbs around her hip bones. Enjoying the pleasure from his touch, her hips swayed into his groin.

"Riven," Musa quivered as he applied more pressure to her skin. "I missed you too," She breathed at his touch and wove her hands into his tousled hair. She slightly pulled on the ends. In response, he slid his hands further up her skin. He began to finger the underneath edging of her bra. She widened her eyes, letting out another groan, pulling on his hair harder.

As his hand slid underneath her bra, grazing her nipple, a knock on the door shook the two out of their fervent session. The two both quickly pulled away from one another, breathing heavily. The door quickly opened with Lucas and Roy standing in the doorway. Raising an eyebrow at the two, "We are going to decorate the tree, we wanted to let you two know."

"Did we interrupt something?" Roy questioned, eyeing Riven's shirt on the chair and Musa's wrinkled tank top pushed halfway up her stomach.

Riven gulped, exhaling a breath, "No, we were just wrestling around. We will be right out."

"Wrestling, right," Lucas laughed. Neither of the males bought Riven's poor excuse, but they would discuss it later. For now, they had a Christmas tree to decorate and it was family time. "We will see you in the living room in a minute right?"

"Right," Riven felt more heat rise to his face. He was so engrossed into Musa's body that he hadn't heard anything outside of her deep breaths and moans.

Feeling the heat to her face, Musa withdrew herself far away from Riven. She stood up, smoothing out her jeans and her tank top She reached out for her zip up jacket.

"Stop looking at me like that," Musa snapped at Riven as he stared at her in awe; she couldn't help but fight the large smile that tugged on the corner of her lips.

Despite the high that Musa was feeling, she couldn't help but fight down the awful feeling that she had in the pit of her stomach. How could something that felt so incredible be so uncompromising and unjust?

* * *

I know it was a shorter chapter, but I think this romance was needed. It will build the suspense of the chapter and push the story further along. The next chapter will be more plot-driven and story oriented. As you could see, this one was not. However, I think it is an essential component to the story.

We can't just help love Roxy!

Until next chapter folks.

Always feel free to review! I enjoy hearing from you and reading your comments!


	10. Chapter X

Well here is the update that you have been waiting for since September (i'm sincerely sorry, I know what it's like to like a story and the author hasn't updated it in ages...) I'm terrible, I know. But better late than never right?

Thank you to my previous reviewers and readers! Y'all's continuous support keeps me going. Also to those who have constantly sent me personal messages to update. Your persistence has thus motivated me! So thank you!

A special thank you to my reviewers: _Lonna, Lasting Violet, Pickles333, Guest, xxxMusaRockz, Fairy Princess Moon, Blueshinymoonlight, Guest, musariven fan, xxx-benedictsbrothersfan-xxx, and SplendidForever_. Seriously, y'all are amazing.

Chapter X

* * *

It was morning.

Musa woke up to the sun shining in her eyes. She winced at first, trying to block out the sun shining in her eyes. After a few seconds, she fully opened her eyes, embracing the new morning.

She went to lift her arm up but was stopped by a force that was weighted down by gravity.

Why did her left shoulder suddenly feel heavier than what she was used to in the mornings when she woke up? Remembering the events that had happened the night before, she widened her eyes and held her breath. She was almost certain she was going to explode- her insides were tumbling and her heart was going to beat out of her chest. Slowly, she covered her face with her hands and started breathing slowly. This was not helping; she felt a larger urge to throw up.

Was there anyway the ceiling would collapse on her? She didn't need to check her body for clothes as the 800 thread-count Egyptian sheets felt nice against her completely naked body.

Was there anyway out of the situation? Musa wanted to scream.

How could she let this happen? Why, how, why?

Turning her head slightly, she stared at Riven's half naked body. His body stirred and she responded to his movement by closing her eyes and pretending not to be awake.

Groggily, he shifted his body and rolled towards her. He extended his arm and wrapped it across the sheet, over her stomach.

Musa let out a slight squeak. So much for pretending to be asleep... Maybe if she acted fast, she could smother herself with the pillow and not have the face the situation that was brewing.

"Morning," he whispered into her ear. God his voice was so sexy when he was sleepy.

The urge to throw up was growing. Taking a deep breath, she tried acting cool, almost like this was a usual routine between the two of them.

"Morning," She whispered back. He rested his head onto the crook of her shoulder and neck.

"You know, you are such a bed hog," He laughed, nuzzling himself closer to Musa. Why was he so comfy?

"If I recall, this is my sleep spot. You're lucky I shared with you. That down there is yours," Musa pointed to the makeshift bed on the floor.

"I should throw you out of this bed," Riven smirked, tracing his fingers along her neck and down the side of her arm and back up towards her chest. Musa eyed his hands. He was sending shivers up her spine.

Acting as if this was a thing that happened frequently, Riven rolled over and was positioned on top of her. He stared into her eyes for a few seconds and then leaned down. He met his lips with her. Eager, she warmed up to his kiss.

"This reminds me of last night," He breathed into her ear.

Musa grinned while kissing him. She pulled his body closer to hers and embraced him.

Riven's lips continued to be on Musa's until his work phone rang. If it was his cell phone he would have ignored the call, however it was his work phone and he needed to answer it. He reached over Musa's body toward the night stand and grabbed it. Bringing it to his hear, he said, "Hello."

He let out a long breath and it was forever before Riven spoke. Musa had great hearing, but even she couldn't hear what the other person was saying on the phone. Riven had made sure of that.

Trying not to make the situation anymore awkward, Musa turned her head and stared out the window as he conversed with whoever he was on the phone with. Oh God, what if someone walked by the window outside. Not that it would happen that early in the morning, but if it did, they would see a lot more than what they had planned too.

Now Musa was paranoid. What if his family had heard them last night? That would be totally mortifying. Riven's voice startled her out of her own thoughts.

"Already, I've been gone for four damn days," Riven hissed.

"How could you fuck up that bad?"

"He did what? When? Why? How did we find out?"

He heaved a sigh and lowered his head. "So what is the damage?"

"Great," Riven snapped. "All right, bye."

"Uhh, Riven, are you okay?" Musa asked softly, refraining from playing with his hair.

"I'm fine, just stay where you are okay?" Riven responded, closing his eyes. Defeated, he lowered his head and the small smile that he had was now lost.

"I can't go anywhere, you're on top of me," Musa countered.

Letting out a slight chuckle, Riven lowered his head over her body and stared the pillowcases. Reliving old habits, Musa extended her arm and began softly rubbing his back. They stayed in that position for so long, she almost forgot about how wrong the situation was and they were not actually together.

...

But then she remembered.

* * *

"Are you dressed yet?" Musa grumbled, standing in the doorway ready to go outside. Walking out to Riven's family was equivalent to the walk of shame. Actually, it was the walk of shame.

"Never did I think of the day where you would be ready before me," Riven grumbled, grabbing his tshirt out of his bag. Musa glanced at Riven's chest one more time before he pulled the shirt on over his head.

Musa stepped out first, followed by Riven, who was not actually with the conversation.

"How did you two sleep?" Lisa questioned. Everyone in the room was eyeing the two. The past few days they had been the first ones out of bed and today they were the last two. Neither of them seemed to mind.

Musa felt her face go warm and Riven delayed the response. He must have been recalling the previous nights even also.

"Musa's a bed hog," Riven groaned, poking her in the side.

"What happened to you sleeping on the floor," Layla laughed, pointing out the obvious.

Musa's face went even redder. She slightly turned her head and looked at Riven, waiting for him to come up with an explanation.

"Lets be honest, the floor is very uncomfortable," Riven responded, walking towards the kitchen. He ignored the rest of the comments his family made. His family gave Musa a look of questioning and she shrugged her shoulders. It was apparent that his prior conversation on the phone was the fault to his mood.

"There is breakfast on the kitchen island," Lucas shouted.

"Is it to early for vodka?" Riven grumbled, picking a piece of bacon off of the tray and nibbling on it.

He paced back and forth for a few seconds around the kitchen and pulled out the bar stool. He sat down and rubbed his temples.

Musa shrugged her shoulders, not quite knowing what to say, "It's never to early for vodka."

"Good," Riven opened up the refrigerator and grabbed out the orange juice and the bottle of vodka. Eagerly, he reached next to the refrigerator and grabbed a glass. Pouring most of it with vodka, he topped it off with orange juice.

Musa didn't ask questions. Not that she had expected him to open up the refrigerator and to pull out a bottle of vodka. Instead of reciprocating, she grabbed herself a plate and pilled on the small food items that she could stomach. She was still on ease from the night before.

Slowly, she walked over and set next to Riven. Neither of them said anything. She ate in silence and he drank in silence.

* * *

After doing the dishes, (mostly Musa did the dishes) Musa and Riven were in the living room. After sorting through movies and arguing over what movie to watch, Riven finally put into the movie _I'll Be Home For Christmas_ into the DVD player.

They sat closely on the leather couch together. Musa pulled her legs into her body and leaned into Riven's chest. Riven extended his arm out and placed it around her body. He drummed his fingers against her arm. There was clearly something bothering him.

Musa tried focusing on one of her favorite Christmas films. Riven's consistent tapping and staring out the window pushed Musa overboard. Clearly he wanted to talk about it without being the one to bring it up. Riven was just like that.

After several more minutes of him staring off into space and him tapping nervously along her arm, Musa reached for the remote and paused the movie. She turned her body towards Riven and stared at him in the eyes.

"Riven, what's wrong?"

He laughed bitterly, "Why do you think something is wrong?"

Musa gave him the knowing look. "You haven't stopped tapping on my arm since the film started and you drank vodka for breakfast. Is that a good enough indicator?"

Riven leaned his head back into the sofa. "It's nothing."

"Well if it's nothing, then lets watch this damn movie and stop tapping on my arm," Musa shot him a look and reached for the remote to click play again.

"It's my damn job," Riven grumbled.

Musa smirked to herself, she knew just how to get Riven to talk.

"I haven't been home in almost two years. I've barely been gone for a few days and the company has gone to shit. When I took this promotion this fall, I didn't think I would have to deal with all of this bullshit."

Musa nodded her head, following along to what he is saying.

"I feel like I need to leave today. There is such a large mess that needs to get taken care of today."

"What type of mess?"

Clenching his fist, "Not one the janitor can clean up. My partner, Baltar embezzled thousands and thousands of dollars from the company. He gave all of our security passwords and files to our competitors. My boss, wants me to come back to help clean up the mess. Since he was my partner, I have to do most of the bidding. I have to meet with the executives of banks, from my company, and the law enforcement. They want to do a background check on me to make sure I was not a part of this business. If Baltar tells them I was a part of this scheme then I am technically wanted and they can arrest me until further notice."

Musa grabbed his hand and held onto it with hers. "Riven, there is nothing you can do. Your boss should know better and know your character and integrity. They can do the check without you being there. Your corporation is a million dollar corporation, they probably have already started searching through your phone records, computer records and files. There isn't much more you can do right now."

"Right now, everyone there is being investigated. I need to do something, I can't just sit here and watch it all fall a part."

"You cannot go back without spending Christmas with your family. Your parents and grandmother would be devastated. They haven't seen you in how long?"

"But work," Riven grumbled. He was never one to ignore his job, especially when he was in charge. This was his future and career that was on line.

Gripping his hand a little tighter, "I know this is a tough situation for you and the company and if I were in your spot, I would be panicking. However, it is Christmas Eve. There is nothing you can do about it right now. Almost all of the banks are closed and will be until after Christmas. You would be making empty phone calls. Besides, it would be hectic catching a plane and getting everything around. It would be a stalemate."

"I mean, my company would be able to get access to get everything cleaned up. He wants to send a private jet now."

"Riven, you cannot sacrifice another holiday because of the job. You need to be with your family. I'd kill to be with mine right now." Musa realized what she had said. She did not want to turn the conversation around and it be about her because it was clearly not.

"What I mean is that you haven't had the chance to spend time with your family like this in a really long time. It's been so long since you have decorated a tree, hung Christmas lights, frosted cookies, and sang Christmas songs as a family. Christmas is a tradition for your family. Why would you want to miss out on that?"

"They need me, I don't know what to do," Riven frowned.

"I'm not saying that you shouldn't worry or neglect your job, because I'm not. What I'm saying is that right now there is not much you can do. Enjoy the time with your family and the day after Christmas worry about it. You can call the banks, resetting passwords, and working on hiring someone new in two days. I know you will do what you need to do and what you think is best; but remember, everything will be okay, I promise." Musa looked straight into his eyes.

"Thanks Musa," Riven leaned over giving her a hug. Why had he given this up two years ago?

* * *

This is another short chapter, I apologize. I was very tired writing this tonight, but I really wanted to get it posted tonight. I will post another chapter in a few days. I have decided to break the part of Christmas Eve down into three chapters.

I'm super excited for y'all to see what the rest of this story has in store for its readers.

Anyway, read and review!


	11. Chapter XI

Y'all are kick-ass. I'm sorry I suck so much. A rad shoutout to: _SplendidForever, Blueshinymoonlight, Fairy Princess Moon, Guest, Lasting Violet, Melting Love, musariven fan, Pickles333, and FashionStyle02, whynot, Autson00, and xxx-bennedictbrothersfan-xxx_ for reviewing.

Chapter XI

* * *

After breakfast had ended, and Riven refused to talk to anyone, Musa walked back into the room and changed into her floral-printed swimsuit. She and Layla were going to spend a portion of the day in the hot-tub together drinking wine.

The bandeau top fitted her breasts, providing her torso with a great look. She stood in the bedroom, analyzing herself in the mirror. Overall, she was quite pleased with her body. The one thing she remained to do, even after her miscarriage, was to keep up her fit body. Throughout a typical week, she worked out four to five times.

Her attention was shaken from the mirror when her cell phone began to ring. Sighing she looked over at the dresser and the name Andy flashed across in white letters. Shakily, Musa researched over and picked up the phone.

After a few more rings, she answered a breathy, hesitant, "Hello."

In reaction to her nerves, Musa paced across the bedroom. "I'm doing great actually, how are you?"

"Yeah I know Christmas is tomorrow. If you would have answered the first time I called you, you would know that my father is in Europe for Christmas..."

"IdecidedtospendChristmaswiththeHarringtons," Musa said really quickly, hoping Andy would look over the words and continue with the conversation.

Unfortunately the only response she received from him was "I didn't understand what you just said."

Nervously, Musa spoke once again into the phone, "I was invited by the Harringtons to spend Christmas with them and that's what I decided to do."

She bit her lip when she received Andy's reaction to her statement. "Actually this is none of your business, but because I care about you, I will tell you anyway. I was at the Spa earlier in the week and I ran into Lisa. She invited me to come stay and I agreed. At the time, Riven was not going to be home for Christmas."

"Yes, my ex-boyfriend Riven," Musa grumbled into the phone. She was not even for sure why she was telling Andy all of this information. Quite frankly, it was none of his concern where she was at or what she was doing.

"And..." Musa trailed on, "It turns out, Riven showed up to surprise his family for Christmas. So we are both staying here and we are acting civil with one another. Riven has been really great to me these last few days. He's not been an ass."

Rolling her eyes to Andy's rage on the phone, Musa snapped, "You know what, I'm tired of your bullshit. If you want to be with me than just say so. If not, stop wasting my time Andy. I'm allowed to be here and I'm enjoying myself. I've had more fun these last few days than I have in a really long time and not even your bullshit can stop that.

"Andy, why do you have to ask questions like that? I don't ask you if you love another woman..." Musa trailed on, nibbling on her bottom lip.

"Andy," Musa sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed. She played with the bedding with her fingers as Andy spoke into the phone.

"Andy, Andy, Andy... we can talk about this when I get home. For now, enjoy your Christmas. If you want to make things work, than you need to put in more of an effort and think things through... I'm not even for sure if getting back together is an option. We can talk about this later. But for now I have go to," Musa stated.

"Yeah, I love you too," Musa said into the phone. She hung up and tossed it onto the bed. She had been dying to hear Andy say those four words, "Lets get back together." But now, she wasn't for sure if that was what she really wanted. The only man on her mind was Riven Harrington and she was going to make the most of the next three days with him.

Little did she know, Riven was standing in the doorway and heard the entire conversation. His heart lurched forward and he had never hated someone more in his life than he did Andy. All he knew was that he wanted Musa badly and he was not going to let some corporate, heart-throb, snob get in his way.

* * *

It was 1 o'clock on Christmas Eve. Grandma Faragonda and Lucas were investing themselves with a nap; Riven and Roy were playing video games in the living room while Lisa and Roxy played board games; and Timmy and Techna were taking a nature walk in the cold.

In the meanwhile, Musa and Layla poured themselves a glass of wine and turned on the hot-tub. Covering the porch deck was a layer of white snow.

"Oh my gosh, this feels amazing," Layla gushed, relaxing her shoulders as her body slipped down the side of the hot-tub.

Already sitting on the ledge, Musa let out a groan. The hot water and bubbles soaked into her skin. "You're right, this was the best thing I have done yet on vacation." She followed the actions of Layla and plunged into the water. She brought her glass to her lips and observed the scenery. It was gorgeous, really. The deck peered over a plane of snow, following pine trees draped in layers of snow. Snow flecks were falling from the sky and one landed on Musa's nose.

"Drinking whine in a hot tub in the middle of December, don't mind if I do," Layla grinned, bringing the glass to her lips.

"I've always loved coming out here. Remember that time we drank a little too much out here and we ran through the snow naked?" Musa laughed, reminiscing on her old Christmas vacations.

"Yes! And then Lucas happened to walk outside as we were doing so. I think he was mortified for ever... he still doesn't bring that one up and I'm his daughter-in-law," Layla laughed.

Musa was not going to be that girl that let one remark bother her. So she didn't marry into the family, doesn't mean she can't look back on the memories she made with the Harrington family and laugh about them now. She was better than that.

"I miss it out here. I loved coming out here for the holidays and the summers. I couldn't imagine spending Christmas out in the middle of nowhere at any other cabin."

"Honestly, Musa, we missed having you out here to enjoy the holidays with us. Right after Riven broke up with you, it was so weird without you being here. I had no idea he had ended the relationship. The last I heard he was looking for a job and you two were talking about moving in together."

"Yeah, I remember that," Musa commented.

"When we arrived, there was no you with Riven. I asked him about it and he said he didn't want to talk about. The rest of the trip was a mess. Riven was god-awful moody and there was no one to drink whine with and sit out on the porch deck. I had to hang out with Roy all vacation. I see him all the time so it wasn't as exciting as it should have been," Layla took another drink.

"God, that ass hole. Who breaks up with someone before Christmas?" Musa snapped, no longer holding in her inner thoughts. The wine was starting to get to her and she let out a soft laugh.

"Right? What a dick! He left you hanging all by yourself." Layla confirmed.

"Two years later, here I am, the same spot, just not in a relationship with Riven."

"Well you can't tell me that you aren't interested. I see the interaction with you two. It's quite hard to miss the tension between you guys."

"He makes it so hard. He's constantly in my air and I have to keep breathing him in," Musa groaned, sliding a little further into the hottub.

Standing up and leaning over to the table to refill her wine glass, Layla questions, "Do you know what I think?"

Raising her eyebrows, Musa asked, "What?"

"You and Riven just need to have sex. Get the tension out of there and it will be fine!"

Musa felt her cheeks heat up and she did not respond. Instead she brought the glass to her lips once again. Except this time she took a longer drink and her lips formed into a grin when Layla stared her down.

"Oh my god, shut up, you guys totally fucked," Layla yelled.

"You fucked Riven," Layla laughed again, smiling ear to ear. Roy owes me money. I totally bet that it would happen. He bet it wouldn't and I bet it did.

"Wait, you bet money on us?" Musa raised her eyebrows and stared directly at Layla.

"You guys had sex, you guys had sex, I knew it," Layla yelled, splashing water around in the hot-tub.

"Would you shut up," Musa hissed, hoping nobody heard the woman screaming that she and Riven had sex.

"Was it at least good?" Layla laughed, letting the wine take control over the conversation. Normally she would have a filter, but the filter was slowly fizzling away.

"Better than I remember," Musa closed her eyes, her brain trying to free herself of this conversation she was having with Riven's sister-in-law. It was at least comforting to get off her chest. Layla was the easiest person aside from Flora she could talk too.

"So what happens now?" Layla questioned.

Fumbling her dark brows, Musa mumbled, "I don't know."

"He still cares about you, you know. Everyone can see it. He did date you for six years and how do you just get over someone for being with them for that long?"

"I just want to know what his intentions are... I just can't handle another boyfriend/guy fiasco in my life..."

The conversation came to a halt when Riven and Roy stepped out onto the deck in their swim trunks and shirtless. Musa tore her gaze away from Riven's body and focused it on something more conservative, such as the open scenery. When the scenery no longer did justice, she declared to herself she was going to drink more wine. She was going to have another glass of wine.

"Make room for us ladies," Roy shouted, running across the deck to the hot-tub. Steam was floating into the air from the machine. Without hesitation, he thrusted his body into the water, splashing hot water all over Musa and Layla.

"I'm going to ignore that you just got my hair soaked," Layla grumbled, swatting at her husband.

"Hey beautiful, scoot over," Riven slurred slightly, also plunging himself into the hot-tub. His leg rubbed into Musa's, sending a stimulus throughout her body. Carelessly, he threw his arm around Musa's shoulder and pulled her into his chest.

After planting a kiss on Roy's lips, Layla wrinkled her nose. "Are you drunk?"

"No, I mean a bit. I don't know. We kept drinking while playing the video games and come time to stand up, the world was spinning," Roy slowly explained.

"That explains the affection," Musa murmured, turning her body to face Riven.

"And you two aren't drunk? That is the second bottle of wine and it is almost gone," Riven pointed out, waving his hand in the direction of the almost empty bottle.

"Noo-" Musa began stating, but then shrugged her shoulders. He was right, they were feeling pretty good.

"Where's Roxy?" Layla questioned. She knew that Roxy would be wondering where her parents were after awhile.

"She's hanging out with my parents. She will be fine, I'm sure of it," Roy declared.

"So we have this hot-tub to ourselves for a little while longer," Riven exclaimed with enthusiasm and placed his hand upon Musa's knee. Slowly, he ran circles around her knee cap and he stared into her eyes.

Staring at him with uneasiness, Musa thought to herself, why was he doing this to her? He was torturing her with his touch. He was torturing her with his affection. He was torturing her heart with his.

* * *

So, I focused more on the Musa and Riven dynamic relationship in this chapter. I thought it would be fun to have a conversation with Musa and Layla as well. I want to delve into more of their relationship with one another.

I do apologize for another shorter chapter. The next chapter coming is going to be very drama filled and filled with a lot more emotions. I have been planning these next few chapters in my head, which will explain why these last two have been sort of blegh. I am way more excited about the action chapters rather than these filler ones.

Thank you everyone again for being such great readers and reviewers. It means a lot for me to have such an awesome fan base as what you guys are.


	12. Chapter XII

Hey y'all, sorry about they delay in updating. My life has been super crazy and I have been on vacation these last two weeks.

As per usual, I would like to express my gratitude to my wonderful readers and reviewers. I would not be where I am today without y'all. Thank you _Guest, thisnewstar, Lasting Violet, xxx-bennedictbrothersfan-xxx, Fairy Princess Moon, S, xxxMusarockz, Guest, and Pickles333._

Keep the support coming!

(Authors note- this first part gets pretty steamy, if you can't handle it, don't read it!)

Chapter XII

* * *

After a long day of Christmas-esque events and too much cookies and maybe a bit too much alcohol Musa and Riven prodded their way back to their room. Musa entered the premise first, Riven following behind. Sluggishly, he shut the door behind him.

"I forgot how much fun Christmas actually was," Musa exclaimed. Taking off her necklace, Musa placed it into the night stand next to the bed. She then tossed herself onto the bed.

"Yeah?"

"I haven't had a Harrington Christmas in three years," Musa responded.

"If it makes you feel any better, I haven't had one in two," Riven laughed.

Changing into his sweatpants, Riven sat onto the bed next to Musa. "I can't believe that we spent the entire day drunk."

Rubbing her temples with the pads of her fingers, Musa hoarsely responded "I can't believe we did either. Your parents didn't know what to do with us four intoxicated. Poor Techna and Timmy, we should have included them."

Riven rolled his eyes and let out a grumbled response, "They just are sort of nerdy. I don't think they would be into the same stuff as us."

"I would disagree, but you're probably right."

"I'm exhausted," Riven grumbled, resting his head in the crook next to Musa's. In response, Musa slowly reached over and intertwined her fingers with Rivens'. Together the two laid in silence and stared at the ceiling.

It was awhile before either one of them spoke.

"Hey Musa," Riven nugded with his arm. Slowly, her eyes opened. How long had they been laying there. Had she even fallen asleep?

"Yeah," She whispered.

"It's Christmas and look outside, it's snowing," Riven pointed to the snowflakes falling from outside. Snow was blanketing around the Harrington cottage and a thin layer of snow was building upon the tree branches.

"It's beautiful," Musa stared at the snow, eyeing as many individual flakes as she could. There was something beautiful about snow falling during the night.

"I got you something."

Wrinkling her eyebrows, Musa smiled softly, "You got me something?"

"Yeah for Christmas."

"Really?" Her voice almost sounded doubtful.

"Yeah, give me one moment." Gracefully, Riven climbed out of bed and walked over to his luggage. He unzipped the front pocket to his bag and withdrew his iPad. He stood there momentarily and after a few seconds of tapping away on the screen he walked back over to the bed and sat down next to her.

Musa composed herself and sat up on the bed, tucking her legs underneath her. Quickly, she grabbed the loose fleece blanket and draped it over her body.

"This is for you," Riven sat down onto the bed next to Musa. He handed her his iPad.

He observed her as she stared at the screen. At first he couldn't read her facial expressions. Did she like it? Did she hate it? Was she going to say no? Did she actually want the present he purchased for her.

"Well?" Riven awkwardly ran his hands through his hair.

Musa stared at the screen for awhile longer and then a large smile spread across her lips. "You got me an airline ticket to go see you?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Why?" She asked incredulous. She couldn't believe Riven bought her a ticket so she could go and see him after the holidays. What did this mean for them?

"Musa, I don't want this to end here," Riven extended his arm and rested his hand on her shoulder. "I like being around you."

"Riven, you shouldn't have. This ticket must have been really expensive."

"I did it because I really want to see you after I leave. I don't want this to be a one time Christmas vacation ordeal."

"I guess I will have to come see you then," Musa gleamed. She leaned over and embraced Riven. Muffled into his shirt, she said, "Thank you Riven."

"Merry Christmas Musa," Riven rubbed her shoulder with his hand.

"Merry Christmas Riven... I didn't get you a gift, but I can do the next best thing," Musa raised her eyebrows and gave him the look. She quickly set the iPad onto the night stand next to the bed and gave all of her attention to Riven.

Musa stared at Riven's classically handsome face. She took him all in: his green eyes, the locks of hair that fell messily on top of his head, the few freckles patterned on his cheek bones. She _wanted_ more.

Quickly, Musa clutched the hem of Riven's shirt and she pulled him closer to her body. She leaned in, pulling Riven into a soft, slow kiss. Pulling away from the kiss, Riven began planting small kisses on the side of her cheekbone down to her neck. His kisses were soft and sweet and overall, they were taunting. His hot breath hit her neck and she squirmed. He brought his lips back to her neck and Musa closed her eyes, enjoying the moments that were about to unfold before them.

A few seconds later, Musa let out a soft moan and she brought her hands up to his hair. Slowly, she ran her fingers through his messy hair and pulled at the ends when he began to nibble on her earlobes. Knowing that it was her one of her pleasure-spots, he nibbled harder. Letting out a sharp cry, Musa withdrew from his body and began tugging on the end of his shirt.

Lifting his arms in the air, Musa pulled the shirt off of Riven, exposing his chest. She eyed him seductively before staring back into his eyes. Then, grinning, she took off her tank top, exposing her lacy black bra. As she climbed on top of his lap, she positioned herself on top of his groin and she slowly rocked her hips back and forth.

Eyeing her from her chest back up to her face and back to her chest, Riven groaned. "You're beautiful Musa."

Riven reached up and gripped her face hard. He pulled her down to his lips and he devoured her mouth roughly. He bit and nibbled on her lips as their kiss intensified. Musa grinded into his hard groin and in response, Riven moaned. Without hesitation, Riven unhooked her bra, slowly sliding the straps down her shoulders.

He ran his hands over her back, down her shoulders, up her waste until he reached her breasts. He brought his thumb to her nipples and began rubbing them slowly. Musa arched her back as he continued to her seduce her.

Bringing his mouth to her breast, he began to suck, nibble, and bite. He lowered his hand down to her apex. He groaned out loud as Musa dug her nails into his back. There was no denial; she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

Riven fingered the lining of her panties and made circles with his thumbs around her hipbones. She gasped, bucking her hips into his.

God, the reaction that Riven could evoke from her.

"These need to go," Riven smirked and quickly pulled her underwear off of her body. Satisfying both of their needs, he plunged into her. Together, their bodies rocked back and forth and that was the last coherent word either of them said until morning.

* * *

Musa woke to a knock on the bedroom door. "Riven, Musa, it's Christmas time. Time to open the presents underneath the tree," Layla called.

Rubbing her eyes, she heaved a sigh. What time was it anyway?

"Morning," Riven murmured, planting a soft kiss on her lips.

Musa leaned into his chest and snuggled up into his body. In a whisper she asked, "Do we have to get up?"

"Unfortunately. If I had it my way, we would reenact last night's events," He grinned.

"Yeah?" Musa grinned, pulling him close to her body.

"We can do that later. But for now, we should get up before my family comes barging in here. I would hate for them to see us like this," Riven laughed.

"Fine," Musa laughed, shoving Riven out of the bed. Before she knew it, he was tugging her down with him.

...

Musa and Riven were the last to enter the family room. Like everyone else, they were dressed in their pajamas. Together, they sat down on the floor, next to Layla and Roy. The wood in the fireplace was burning, the tree was decorated, and underneath it was a variety of wrapped presents.

"It's about time you two showed up," Roxy grumbled. She was annoyed that she had to wait to open her presents because of Musa and Riven's delay to the family room.

Everyone in the living room laughed at Roxy's passive aggressive comments.

"Honey, I think Riven and Musa were tired. After all, they were the last to go to sleep last night," Layla stated to her child.

Musa felt her face go red and she stared down at the floor. Smirking, Layla continued her statement, "Did Riven give you his Christmas gift last night?"

Ignoring the thought of Riven's family hearing her and Riven from the night before, Musa looked at Layla. "He did, I loved it. We haven't planned a time for me to go visit yet, but I'm sure we will sometime soon."

"I thought that was such a great idea. It was actually Techna's idea," Roy exclaimed.

"It was your idea Techna?" Musa asked baffled. She would have last expected Techna to give Riven Christmas gift ideas. Riven was not one to take advice from people, especially his younger cousin.

"What can I say? If I were in your spot, that is what I would want Timmy to do."

"Well thank you," Musa smiled.

"So who is going to pass out gifts from Santa?" Roxy leaned back and forth on her knees. She was growing impatient as the adults were chatting among themselves.

"Musa, Riven, do you want to do the honor since you were so late to get out here," Lucas questioned.

"Of course," Musa stood up, holding her hand out for Riven. Pulling him off the ground, the two made their way around the three.

Playfully, they distributed gifts among everyone in the group.

...

"That is the last of the gifts."

"Alright, go sit down so we can start to open our gifts."

Musa was in awe that the Harringtons' had an abundance of gifts for her as well. They must have gotten them the day Riven and Lucas went to town. Even though it had been a few years, it was almost as if nothing had changed. They were always overwhelming good to her.

The packages she opened contained a knit scarf, a sweater, several gift cards, and some miscellaneous items.

"I absolutely love these homemade knit Christmas sweaters. I feel like the Weasley family from Harry Potter," Musa gushed, holding her sweater up. Like everyone else, she pulled the sweater on over her clothes. She looked around, and everyone had the same color burgandy color sweater on. The only difference was each person had the letter of their first name on their sweater.

"We are definitely getting a family photo later," Techna loved the sweaters just as much as Musa.

"I'm surprised you were able to make me one in this amount of time," Musa stared at the sweater, admiring the sleeve.

"As soon as I saw you at the spa, I went home and Lucas and I got busy making you one."

"Well I love it, thank you so much," hugged the sweater close to her body. There was no other feeling than a Harrington Christmas. His family was her family and she didn't realize how much she had missed them until this vacation.

"We look cute, lets take a photo," Musa reached for her cell phone. Musa held her cell phone out to take the photo as Riven draped his arm over her shoulder. A few seconds later, Musa uploaded the photo to her Instagram.

"Thank you so much for the presents, it means a lot," Musa expressed her gratitude once again.

* * *

"I'm ready for a nap," Musa stiffed a yawn, cuddling into Riven's shoulder.

"I could go for one of those too."

"You guys are so old I swear," Layla rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, coming from the person who goes to sleep at 9 o'clock every night."

"No one goes to bed early tonight. We have Texas Holdem to play, Euchre, and Mexican Dominoes," Roy pointed to Musa, Layla, Riven, Techna, and Timmy.

"Yes, I can't wait for Mexican-train Dominoes," Techna exclaimed.

"God, I'm awful at those," Musa said while she observed Roxy playing with her Monster High dolls across the living room.

"She's so content over there," Riven followed Musa's eyes over to Roxy.

"Today has been great," Musa stepped over towards Riven and leaned into his chest. She heaved a large breath and Riven wrapped his arms around her.

"Gross, I almost forgot you had a heart," Roy muttered at his younger brother showing affection.

Everyone stopped talking when there was a knock on the front door. Everyone looked back and forth between each other. By the looks of it, no one was expecting any company for the evening.

Layla shrugged her shoulders and approached the door. She looked through the peak hole, unlatched the door and slowly unlocked it. She stood in front of the door for a few moments before turning her head slightly and tossing everyone in the room a nervous look.

After the nervous look, and several moments of silence, Riven spoke up, "Layla, who is at the door?"

"Uhh, Riven it's for you," Layla muttered.

Withdrawing from Musa's body, he stepped towards the door. As he approached the door, Layla took a step backwards. As soon as he saw _her_ , he stopped in his tracks.

"Darcy?" His voice quivered.

"Riven," She whispered back.

* * *

Until next chapter.

I know, I'm awful.

Please read and review.


	13. Chapter XIII

It's been awhile, I know, but here ya go. Better late than never, that is what I always say. This one is a rather lengthy chapter... So I hope you enjoy it :)

As per usual, I am extremely grateful to have as many awesome reviewers and readers as I have. Your support motivates me and I enjoy knowing that you like writing.

Thank you again: _alifewithyou, Smilez014, cherry156, Maddwinx4eva, Fairy Princess Moon, thisnewstar, frooti, Winxtorious, xxxMusarockz, MeltingLove, Lasting Violet, musarivenfan, xxx-bennedictbrothersfan-xxx, & Pickles333. _

Seriously, y'all are fucking fantastic.

* * *

 _(In case you forgot what happened at the end of the last chapter)_

 _"Darcy." His voice quivered._

 _"Riven," she whispered back._

Taken back by the next surprise of his supposed to be family vacation, he took a step backwards from Darcy and remained quiet. His eyes scanned Darcy's and then he heaved a deep breath. What in the hell was he supposed to do?

Darcy stared into Riven's deep eyes, trying to read his face. He looked worried, confused, and stunned, all in the same manner. Taking in Riven's hesitancy, Darcy placed her hand on Riven's forearm and spoke softly again. "Can I come in Riven. I really want to talk to you."

"About work or about us?" Riven moved his arm away from her grasps and raised his eyebrows in the direction of her left hand. On her ring finger was the engagement ring that he had proposed to her a few months prior. She was wearing the diamond ring on her hand and this made him feel very uneasy. He was unsure of her intentions. With everything going on at work, he wouldn't be surprised she was here because of official business and not their own personal relationship.

"Us and then work..." Darcy paused, letting silence settle in. "It's Christmas Riven, please" She pleaded.

Riven moved away from the door frame and stepped aside, letting Darcy into his house. Slowly, she stepped into the house. She shook off the snow off of her boots and removed the boots from her feet.

Riven grabbed her suitcase from the porch, pulled it inside the foyer, and closed the door behind her. He looked around the living room and took in everyone's reaction. His grandmother had a disappointed look, Layla and Roy looked confused, Timmy and Techna were whispering among each other and Riven's parents were in the kitchen doorway silent. Riven's eyes landed on Musa's last. She didn't look confused, nor upset, nor angry- in fact, he couldn't read Musa's facial expression and that was what worried him the most.

Darcy took off her coat and scarf and handed it to Riven. Nervously he took it, and hung it up on the first open peg hook. This was not exactly how he planned on spending his Christmas vacation.

"And who might this be?" Lisa said stepping out of the kitchen doorway into the living room. Standing next to her son was a woman whom she had never met nor seen before. She was a tall woman with a leaner figure. Her long chestnut hair shaped her narrow face. Glancing at the look of her son's face, this mystery guest was more than a friend.

"This is Darcy," Riven began to say. He was unsure as to what to classify her and how to introduce her to his family.

Darcy took the opportunity to introduce her self. Smiling, she eagerly exclaimed, "I'm his fiance." She extended her hand out to shake to both Riven's mother and father.

Musa looked around the room, unknowing of what to say or feel. Last she knew, they were no longer together and now here was Darcy, exclaiming to his entire family that she was Riven's fiance. Either Riven was lying or she was. Either way, Musa felt her insides turning and the air suddenly felt tight around her lungs.

"Wow, fiance," Not knowing what to say, Lucas spoke up for him and his wife. "Riven has talked about you many times before," He lied, "But he never told us he was engaged."

"Aww Rivy," Darcy smiled in his direction, "He wanted to tell you over Christmas break." Musa cringed as Darcy referred to Riven as 'Rivy.' Doesn't she know he hates when people call him that?

"Well, congratulations," Lisa spoke up in the most faux voice possible. To Darcy, she seemed sincere, but everyone else in the room could sense the ingenuity in her voice.

"Congratulations son," Lucas approached his son and gave him an extra hard pat on his shoulder and squeezed. Riven let out a fake chuckle and turned to the most important person to him in the room. His eyes wandered to Musa and he stared at her for a few seconds. He saw a flash of pain cross Musa's face and in response, he mouthed "I'm sorry."

She shrugged her shoulders, turned her body, and walked down the nearest hallway away from them. Musa and Riven's interaction did not go unnoticed by Darcy. She crossed her arms and smirked as she watched the girl walk away.

"I think Darcy and I are going to talk, we have some stuff going on with work that we need to talk about," Riven grabbed a hold of her hand and pulled her down the opposite hall towards the loft. The same loft where he and Musa had several intimate encounters throughout the previous week. Suddenly, he felt incredibly guilty.

* * *

Once they were down the hallway and into the loft, Riven slammed the door shut and looked at Darcy directly in her eyes.

"What the hell are you doing?" He shouted. How dare she show up after almost two months of no personal contact and tell his parents that she was his current fiance. Last time he knew, she wanted nothing to do with him and there was not going to be a wedding.

"Riven," Darcy tried to explain.

He let out a harsh laugh and cut her off. "Stop. You show up here after ignoring me for two months and tell my fucking family you are my fiance. Because that sure is news to me."

"I'm sorry," Darcy sat on the couch and placed her hands in her lap. She furrowed her eyebrows and looked down at the carpet.

"Sorry doesn't make this right. You show up here on Christmas... my family's Christmas and interrupt everything. They don't even know that we were engaged... Hence, were. We no longer are."

Darcy turned her body to face a seething Riven. "Riven, I came here to see you. I missed you. I want to be your fiance..."

"You need to leave," Riven pointed towards the door.

"It's late Riven and I wont' be able to get flight out until tomorrow..." Darcy tried pleading with her stubborn ex.

"Fine! You can stay the night, but I want you gone tomorrow morning." Riven growled, before turning his body away and walking towards the door.

"Is it because of her?" Darcy cried out.

"Who?" Riven turned around and asked, even though he knew exactly who Darcy was talking about.

"That girl, that's who. I saw the way she looked at you and me. Is she your girlfriend?"

"No she's not. This isn't about Musa. It's about you and I and how two months ago you broke up with me on a whim and gave no further explanation." Riven heaved a sigh before sitting down on the couch. "Besides, she is one of my closest friends."

"Then before you leave this room, please here me out. I came here because I love you Riven and I miss you. I've missed you so much and I can't imagine not spending my life without you. Please don't be like this. I know I've messed up, but give me another chance."

"I don't do second chances," Riven answered firmly. He was done with this conversation. He removed himself from the couch and began to walk towards the door. Taking her chance, Darcy stood up, running in front of him to try and stop him from leaving.

"Darcy move," Riven growled.

Taking a deep breath, Darcy looked him straight in the eyes and placed her arms on his shoulders. "I am so sorry Riven and I know I messed up. But please give me another chance to make this up to you. I will do anything and I mean anything... and if you don't want me around, I will go home and leave you alone forever. But I came here on Christmas because I wanted to spend it with you. I've missed you, I mean it Riven."

Darcy took a step him and grabbed his hand with hers. She gave it a squeeze.

"Okay," Riven breathed.

Darcy pulled him close to her body. Leaning in, she dipped her head and planted a kiss on Riven's lips. Much to her dismay, Riven did not welcome his lips against hers. Instead he pulled away from her and coldly brushed her off.

"Darcy... too soon," Riven turned away from her and sat in the recliner.

"I deserve that... I didn't come here just to get back with you. We have a lot more to talk about than just us," Darcy frowned, sitting down on the couch across from her "fiance."

...

After an hour of being by themselves, Riven and Darcy emerged from the loft where they had previously been talking.

"Darcy is going to stay for dinner and she is also going to stay night," Riven mumbled as he approached the dinner table. He glanced around the dinner table and observed all of the food. Placed around dinner table an assortment of foods, enough for a feast- Turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, green beans, etc. Lined on the counters were a variety of Christmas deserts.

Everyone was seated at the kitchen table already, waiting for the two to show up for dinner. There were only two seats left at the table, however, they were spaced out across the round table.

Riven was going to sit beside Musa, the last thing that he wanted was Darcy and Musa sitting next to each other. He was unsure of what was going to happen. They were both hotheads when they were angry.

Musa saw Riven approaching the seat next to her. Before he could sit down, Musa stood up and pushed her chair out. "I'll move, so you and Darcy can sit next to each other," Musa insisted and then shoved her self past Riven, knocking into his shoulder on purpose. She shot him a glare and proceeded to walk away from her towards her respected seat.

"Thank you," Riven whispered so low, only Musa heard him as she shoved past him.

Quickly, she walked around the table and sat in the empty chair seated in between Layla and Mr. Harrington.

"Wow this all looks delicious. Thank you so much for letting me stay here," Darcy gushed, looking around at the variety of foods.

"My mom and grandma are great cooks," Riven commented. He was trying to stay on his parents good side after the series of events that had happened throughout the day.

"It's great to see you again Mrs. Faragonda," Darcy said

Musa, who had been playing with her fork, looked up, suddenly remembering when Grandma Faragonda first arrived to the Harrington cabin.

 _"I'm so glad my grandson finally decided to win you back and give it another try. I've been hounding on him for the last two years about it. When I went to visit him a few months ago, he was still with that tramp Darcy."_

So that was who Grandma Faragonda meant. When she had went to visit Riven, she met Darcy.

"As to you," Grandma Faragonda muttered. She gave off a small smile and visited her glass of wine that was sitting across from her. She brought the drink to her lips and shot Musa an apology look for her grandson's choice of actions.

"Thank you again," Darcy said.

"Of course," Lucas found the words to respond to his potential future-daughter-in-law.

"So Darcy, how did you and Riven meet?" His mother asked inquisitively. Lisa was confused as to hell how Riven and Musa had practically gotten back together to some woman showing up at the door claiming she was Riven's fiance. It was even more bizarre that Grandma Faragonda had met this woman and she had not spoken once of her since Riven had lived away.

"It was in September two years ago. He was the intern at Red Fountain Corporation and I had just started working there a few months prior. We fell in love only after weeks of knowing each other. We finally got together in late October."

Musa chocked on her water and everyone around the table looked at her. "October? Wow," Musa spoke up in a rather harsh tone. She gripped her dinner fork tighter. She remembered two years ago during October. Her mother had just passed away from a short battle of cancer and she was currently dating the magenta haired boy.

Based upon the glances that almost everyone was sharing around the table, everyone was picking up on what Musa had. During that time, Riven was dating her and Darcy at the same time. Therefore, he had cheated on her. He had broken up with her to date Darcy.

"Yeah, we've been inseparable ever since," Darcy smiled widely.

"I bet so," Musa responded back. Layla and Roy shot nervous glances back and forth between each other. There was an obvious tension in the room and it was growing so thick, one could cut in half with a butter knife.

"You must be Musa right?" Darcy eyed the girl sitting across from her. She had impeccable features that made her boldly beautiful. She suddenly felt uneasy about Riven having a best friend as pretty and as memorizing as her. "I've heard a great deal about you correct? Riven's all time best friend. He said you were really close growing up and in high school. He said that you used to come on Christmas vacations with his family every year. It's sweet, it really is. I was so excited to see you when I walked in. I mean having a best friend as great as you, you've made my Rivy so happy."

"Apparently Riven has told you a lot," Musa responded sarcastically.

"Well, I think it is Dinner time. Why don't we toast to something and lets eat," Lisa tried easing the situation.

"I've got it, lets toast to Riven and Darcy's engagement. We can wish them a lifetime of happiness." Musa shot Riven a mean look, but quickly replaced her look with a smirk. She brought her wine glass towards her mouth. After this dinner was over, she was going to need at least a few more glasses to be able to handle this situation that was unfolding in front of her.

"That's a great idea," Layla said, trying to break the tension in the room.

"To Riven and Darcy's engagement," Layla raised her glass along with everyone else.

...

Once everyone was done eating dinner, Musa was the second to leave the table. She followed Lisa to the kitchen sink where she began to wash her own plate. She was scrubbing rather aggressively at the non-existent stains.

"Hey, why don't you go get some air. I'll clean this before you break my china," Lisa teased, taking the plate from Musa's hands.

"Thanks," Musa took a deep breathe and began to walk away.

"Musa," Lisa called.

"Hmm?" She turned around.

"I'm really sorry."

Smiling, Musa shook her head. "Don't. You can't keep apologizing for your son's actions."

...

Night was settling over the forest, and inside the Harrington Cabin the festivities were beginning to die down. Riven surveyed the room as he sat onto the love seat next to Darcy. Layla and Roy were reading Roxy a story, Grandma Faragonda and Riven's parents had went out back to enjoy some adult time, Timmy and Techna were cuddled in one corner of the couch watching another sentimental Christmas movie. There was one person noticeably missing from the room.

Should he go look for her? Maybe. Musa should be enjoying Christmas with everyone, not hiding away. He stood up, straightening out his shirt. "Hey, I'll be back in a few minutes okay?" Riven walked out of the room and towards the one room where he knew Musa would be.

* * *

Right after dinner she had excused herself and went into the room she was currently staying with Riven. She had gathered all of her things in her suitcase and first thing in the morning she was calling a cab and taking one back to her house. She placed the suitcase at the foot of the bed and muttered an abundance of swear words to no one.

Musa paced back and forth in the room, unsure of what to do or say. Did she yell at Riven, did she attack Darcy, did she destroy the pictures of them still framed in the room? She wanted to scream and yell and cry and at the same time she wanted to do nothing- nothing because this was no longer her problem. She couldn't control things that were out of her hands.

Taking a deep breath like she had practiced when she was angry, she sat on the bed and stared at the ceiling. She bit her lip, drawing a faint taste of blood. She would not cry because was no longer that girl. She would not weep for the things that could have been. She had been through hell this last year with Andy- if she could handle with that than she could handle this. And apparently this was just a sign from the gods that her and Riven were not soulmates and they were not meant to be together. She could handle not being together, but what she couldn't handle was the fact that he had cheated on her and the ending of their relationship was a complete bullshit lie.

She stopped staring at the ceiling when a small knock came from the wooden door. Her ears perked up and she stared at the door, waiting a few seconds before responding.

Weakly she said, "In here." If it was Darcy, she was going to lose her shit. Instead, the worse of two evils was at the doorway. On second thought, she would have rather had Darcy at the door.

"Hey," Riven said quietly, closing the bedroom door behind him. Hey was all he could manage to say because he didn't know where to begin.

Musa didn't look up from the rug on the wood floor. She stared at the blended colors and replied "Hey."

He hesitantly took another step forward towards her. "Uh, I wanted to check on you. I didn't see you after dinner."

She looked over the window and didn't respond to him.

"I figured something was up... you love Christmas," Riven tried again. Why hasn't she said anything to him?

"So," Riven began again.

"Actually, Christmas is my least favorite holiday now," Musa spat.

"What's wrong?" Brow creased in concern, Riven took another step closer to her.

"Are you really asking me that?"

"Listen, if this is about Darcy," Riven began. He was trying to find the best way to handle this encounter with a very angry Musa.

"Oh my god, if you even think this is about Darcy, then you must be insane. This isn't about her, this is about us, this is about you. Your entire relationship is a lie... Actually wait, our entire relationship was a lie," Musa spat. She looked up for the first time at him in the past few hours. She was angry, she was hurt, and most of all, she felt betrayed.

"I-" Riven searched for the right words to say.

Musa let out a sharp laugh. "Was this some fun for you? Let's just use me until Darcy, I mean your fiance, shows up. I guess once a cheater, always a cheater," Musa snapped.

Musa stood up, walking towards him. "Did any of our relationship ever mean anything to you?"

Scratching the back of his neck, Riven responded, "Of course it did."

"Well after tonight, I'm having a hell of a hard time believing anything coming from your mouth."

Riven stared at the ground and remained silent. His silenced pissed Musa off even more. After she was through with him, he was going to wish he had never lied to her.

"Figures, you have nothing truthful to stay. Anything you have ever said to me appears to be a lie. So I'm assuming when you said you don't want this to end here was also another lie," Musa hissed.

"Please, as soon as we leave here, you are going to go jump back into Andy's arms anyway," Riven retorted back. The only way he knew how to defend himself in this situation was to fire back with the only other thing that had such a large affect on her.

Withdrawing her hand from her side, Musa smacked Riven across his face. "Don't you dare bring him into this. He knows everything about you. Darcy- your little pet, knows nothing about me. She thinks I'm your best friend. You didn't even tell her that you were dating someone when you happened to meet her... We were still dating Riven."

Riven brought his hand to his face and rubbed the spot where Musa had just smacked him. "I deserve that."

Taking another breath, Musa cried, "And then you had the audacity to lie to my face two days ago about how you and Darcy met. You told me you met her in December. No- you met her in September. You dated her the same month my mom died Riven."

He didn't say anything, instead, he looked down at the ground, searching for the right words to say.

"You don't get it, do you Riven. I needed you at the most important time in my life, and instead you were out whoring around with Darcy. You cheated on me with her. You pretended this never happened- well guess what, all of your lies are coming out. Maybe I should go tell Darcy the truth, that way she knows what type of liar you are." Musa started walking towards the door out of anger.

"Musa, please don't," Riven pleaded. He stood in front of the door, blocking her from leaving the room.

"And why should I keep this a secret? Because you screwed up, I have to live with your mistakes. That seems totally fair."

"You should keep this a secret because I could still have a future with her," Riven whispered. He hung his head low, unable to look her in the eyes anymore. He knew he screwed up. He had lost Musa and there was no chance for a future with her. She was never going to forgive him for everything that she had found on tonight... At least he still could have a future with Darcy.

Taking the words in, Musa backed away from him and turned her body towards the window. She slowly walked towards the window sill and stared at the layer of snow outside.

After a few moments of silence, Musa breathed deeply and wiped the few tears that were in the corner of her eyes away. "Okay... I won't say a word. But good luck Riven Harrington, I'm done.

"Musa where are you going?"Riven questioned as she pushed passed him with her bag in her hand.

"I'm sleeping on the floor somewhere, far away from you" Musa growled as she exited the room away from Riven. She glanced back a few moments later to realize that Riven wasn't following her. As disappointed as she was, she realized life isn't like the movies. He isn't going to apologize for all of his wrong deeds, he wasn't going to follow her, and he wasn't going to beg for her... because she wasn't his no more and they no longer had a relationship.

Taking another breath, Musa entered into the living room, placing the biggest smile on her face that she could muster.

"Darcy, it's all yours," Musa pushed past the brunette into the kitchen, the only place where there wasn't anyone in. Sighing, she grabbed her cell phone... she needed to get the hell out of the Harrington Cabin. She was not a Harrington and she was never going to be one. Why stay in a place where she doesn't belong?

* * *

I mean I couldn't let Musa and Riven get back together just yet... :)

Please review and tell me all of your thoughts. I can't wait to hear them!


	14. Chapter XIV

Wow, have I mentioned I love you all? The amount of reviews, encouragement, and ideas I have received throughout this story have been quite impeccable. I'm so glad to have such awesome readers as you are.

Because y'all are so awesome and I have more free time, I am going to update again immediately. Also, I go in spurts of wanting to write and not wanting to write. I was sort of in a writers block for this story for awhile. I have most of my ideas sorted out now... sometimes it just takes time.

Thank you again: _Lasting Violet, Smilez014, smukherjee, S, Winxtorious, SplendidForever, cherry156, Guest, AlexisPeany, Pickles333, Muriforever, musariven fan, I hate darcy, LuckyLefty77, xxxMusarockz, and thisnewstar..._ and to anyone else who might review in the previous chapter.

A/N: For this chapter I want to focus more on Riven and a small portion of his family. For most of this story it has been Musa-centric, so this chapter is dedicated to those other important characters who have not received as much attention from me as they should have.

Chapter XIV

* * *

Once Musa emerged from the hallway and told Darcy the room was all hers, Timmy and Techna were now the only ones in the living room. Everyone else was probably thinking about the same thing they were- Riven and Musa. Since the incident at dinner, the two had been sharing "I-want-to-talk-to-you" glances with one another.

Utilizing their alone time, Techna quickly turned around and paused the television. Whatever cliche Christmas movie that was playing on television could wait. She was more interested in what her and Timmy's conversation was going to entail. She withdrew herself from Timmy's grasp, tucked her legs underneath her and faced Timmy head on.

"So this has been an interesting day," Timmy sarcastically said, with a follow up laugh.

"You're telling me. The tension was so thick, I thought for sure there was going to be a fight," Techna rubbed her temples.

"Techna, I don't really understand your family," Timmy teased.

In response to her annoying boyfriend, Techa smacked him over the head with the plush pillow. Laughing, Timmy ripped away her weapon and tossed it across the room away from her reach. He leaned in, gripped her chin and kissed her.

Pulling away from the kiss, Techna returned to the topic of Musa and Riven. Timmy laughed and rolled his eyes good-naturedly.

"You know what, sometimes I don't understand my family either... maybe I just don't understand my cousin. Sometimes I really don't understand Riven and I am having a hard time wrapping my mind around this situation actually. The entire trip Riven and Musa have acted like a couple and all of a sudden, his fiance that no one knows about just, except my grandma, appears. It was like she came out of the woodwork."

"I'm guessing Musa is pissed," Timmy nonchalantly guessed.

"Well I don't blame Musa, quite frankly I'd be pissed off too." Techna snapped.

"Do you think she's pissed off at Darcy?" Timmy questioned. Women were complicated and he didn't quite understand them.

Techna shook her head. "I don't think so. I think she's pissed at Riven and for a very good reason at that. Riven had met Darcy at the end of their relationship- he hid his internship from her, he hid his affection for Darcy from her and he started dating Darcy two weeks after her mother had passed away."

"Well I certainly did not pick that one up from the dinner table. But then again, I was not present during that time period," Timmy clarified. "Wow, I can't imagine what was running through Musa's mind during the dinner table... really Techna, what was your cousin thinking."

"I have no idea. It beats me and I'm guessing based upon Darcy's presumptions about Musa, she doesn't know they had a past relationship before. She thinks they are only friends. I think that hurt Musa more than Riven cheating on her. He hid six years of his life from Darcy and that was more of a slap in the face to Musa. Riven's actions signal that Musa meant nothing to him over the six years they were together," Techna growled. She was not pleased with her cousins actions.

"So what's to say Musa is going to spill Riven's secret. She's probably feeling a tumult of emotions right now," Timmy sighed. "If I were in her shoes, I'm not for sure if I'd be able to keep my thoughts to myself."

"That is a really tough situation... I'm not for sure I would be able to do that either. However, what I do know is that, I know Musa and she won't say anything because she cares about Riven, a lot. I also know Musa and I know that she won't forgive Riven for what he did either."

"Do you blame her?" Timmy questioned.

"Unfortunately no. This will probably kill Riven's family thought... they love Musa. They see her as a daughter and based on their facial expressions, his parents and grandma especially, they are both disappointed and just as surprised."

Sliding his glasses up his nose, Timmy frowned. "You know what I don't understand?"

"What?" Techna replied.

"I don't understand how your grandma knew who Darcy was an no one else did."

"I was wondering the same thing. However, I remembered a few months ago she went and visited Riven down at his corporation in the Andros islands. I'm assuming that is where she met Darcy" Techna said in a matter-of fact tone.

"So do you think they broke off their engagement for a bit?" Timmy questioned.

"I don't know, but that is what we need to find out," Techna said affirmatively.

* * *

Darcy entered the room where the youngest Harrington was staying. Overall, the room was very bare, except for a photo sitting on the oak dresser. Setting her suitcase down, she strolled over to the dresser. She picked the frame up and closely observed the photo. Together, Musa and Riven stood side-by-side in matching Christmas sweaters. The two stood in front of the tall douglas fir Christmas tree.

"You two are so cute babe. I love your Christmas sweaters. I wish I had a friend as good as Musa. I know she's a little jealous, but that is fair. After all, I am taking her Rivy away from her. Do you think she would want to be in the wedding?"

Riven almost let out a laugh. After today, Musa was never going to talk to him again and there was no way in hell she was going to make an appearance for their wedding. Oh the irony.

"Maybe, we can ask her at a later date. I think she is a little exhausted from all of the traveling she has been doing over the past few weeks. Her job requires her to do a lot of traveling I believe," Riven lied again. Since when did his life become one twisted lie.

"Sure," Darcy eyed him carefully. She wasn't completely believing him, but she wasn't about to question him either.

Noticing her fiance's reserved manners, Darcy placed the picture frame back down on the dresser and turned towards Riven. "Are you sure you're okay? You seem awfully quiet. I know I've just came back into your life Riven, but I am trying. So I'd appreciate it if you gave me a little less cold shoulder."

Faking a smile, Riven stood up, wrapping Darcy in his arms for a hug. She leaned her head on his chest. He almost backed away once he noticed that her body did not align well with his. Compared to Musa's, Dacry's body was out of place. Musa's neck fit perfectly in the crook of his neck, whereas, Darcy's did not.

"I'm sorry, I'll try to be better," Riven compromised.

Withdrawing from his hug, Darcy pulled out of his arms. She walked over where she had set her suitcase down and opened it up, searching through her clothes and toiletries looking for something specific.

"Here," Darcy said once she found what she was looking for. Resting in the hand she was holding out for Riven was a small box wrapped in Christmas paper. "I wanted to get you a Christmas gift."

"Great, thanks. I uhh, didn't get you anything. But then again I didn't know you would be showing up here for Christmas, so yeah." Slowly, Riven took the present from Darcy's hand.

"Rivy, is it okay if I shower? You can open your gift while I am showering if you would like. I know this has been a lot to spring on you one day and I want to give you the space you need. Besides I feel disgusting after traveling through the airport and jumping from two different planes" Darcy complained.

"Yeah sure, let me show you where it is," Riven offered. He set the gift down on the corner of the bed and stood up, adjusting his shirt.

Riven left the room, walking down the hallway to show Darcy where the bathroom was.

"It's so forest-like, I love it," Darcy observed the bathroom around her. The decor was that of a typical cabin- pine trees, greens, browns, etc.

"Well, here is the shower. If you need anything else, let me know," Riven turned around to walk away.

"Wait," Darcy quickly grabbed Riven's wrist with her hand. "Want to join me?" She winked.

Letting out a soft laugh, Riven shook his head. "We are in my parents house, that is disrespectful," He lied. It was disrespectful, however, he and Musa had several intimate encounters in the cabin throughout their relationship. What was stopping him was that it felt wrong to sexually interact with someone else in the same places that he had interacted with Musa.

"Are you sure you don't want to?" Darcy seductively asked while she slid her jeans off of her body.

Looking away, Riven shook his head no. "We are at my parents house and anyone can walk in. Besides, it would be really awkward if we both walked out of the bathroom together."

"What about now?" She quickly removed her sweater to reveal a black lacy bra.

Not in the mood, Riven tossed her a "stop-while-you're-ahead look."

"We can do that later," Darcy sighed in defeat. She shot Riven a wink as he walked out of the bathroom door before he closed the door behind him.

While Darcy was in the shower, Riven couldn't help but revisit the conversation he just had with Musa. She was hurt and angry and it was all because of him and his abundance of lies. He never meant to really lie to her, it was just how things panned out. As much as he wanted to justify his lying, he knew he was in the wrong and there was nothing that would make this situation right.

While thinking about the conversation his heart dropped. He was trying to sort out his feelings- anger, nervousness, and maybe a tinge of excitement. There was a small voice in the back of his head insisting that after this trip he and Musa might have a chance to get back together. Even after two years, they connected like nothing had changed. They were still the same people and they still felt the same about each other.

Maybe she was his soulmate... Maybe Musa was the epitome of a soulmate- someone who no matter what you felt a strong connection for and those feelings never went away. It was as if nothing had ever changed.

Lowering his head, he walked over to the edge of his bed and sat down. He opened the drawer to the nightstand next to the bed and pulled the drawer out, placing it next to him.

This drawer was not any night stand drawer. It was _their_ drawer. Every year from the time they started dating, Musa and Riven would bring an item that reminded them of each other and they would place it in the drawer right before the new year would start.

In the drawer was a plastic bag containing a year full of tickets of events that they had went to together: there were concert tickets, movie tickets, theme park tickets, a parking ticket, and a few other miscellaneous ticket stubs. There was an autographed _All Time Low_ album, the first concert they attended to together. There was a picture and a pin from the first time they went to the zoo. There also were love notes in there that they had wrote to each other for every Christmas. There were a few guitar picks, a few miscellaneous pictures, other minor items that they had collected throughout the year. The last item that Riven picked up was a postcard that they had received when they went on vacation together.

There were so many memories. All of those great memories were now fading into history.

Riven was drawn to the items. One by one he began reminiscing. His chest tightened up as he was starting to feel that moment of nostalgia. He was not longing for the woman who was showering in the second bathroom. He was longing for Musa. Even if he gave up Darcy, there was no way Musa was ever going to speak to him again, let alone forgive him. He had royally screwed up this one and not even a simple Christmas vacation could repair the damage that he had caused.

Whatever pain he received from this, he deserved it. He deserved it all.

Sighing, he placed all of the items back into the drawer and returned the drawer to its rightful place. This was just how things were supposed to be. Sometimes, you don't end up with the person you're supposed to be with.

* * *

After several minutes of trying to process what had just happened and catching her breath, Musa finally stood up in the dining room and walked towards the piano in the other room. She sat on the bench for a few minutes and warmed up her hands. Finally, her fingers began to glide across the keys and she sang the first song that came to her mind- FM Static's _Tonight_. She let the tears fall as she played and sang her heart out.

 **(A/N: In between the italicized song lyrics are flashbacks of Musa & Riven's relationship... THEY ARE NOT IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER EITHER)**

 ** _I remember the times we spent together_**  
 ** _All those drives, we had a million questions_**  
 ** _All about our lives_**

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" He rolled over and faced her on the blanket that was spread out in the grass.

"I want to be a musician. I want to perform and and share my love for music to everyone. There's no other feeling you know?"

"Yeah, I know exactly what you mean."

"Hey look at that shooting star," Musa pointed upwards towards the sky

"Make a wish," Riven laughed. Musa closed her eyes and made a wish.

Rolling over on her stomach, she asked, "Did you make a wish?"

"Now Musa, don't be selfish. You're not the only one who gets to make a wish over the shooting star."

Rolling her eyes, Musa shoved him on his back and climbed on top of him. She met her lips with his.

 ** _And when we got to New York everything felt right_**  
 ** _I wish you were here with me,_**  
 ** _Tonight_**

"How do you like college in New York?" Musa asked on the phone.

"It's not Gardenia, that's for sure."

"I miss you," Musa said firmly.

"I miss you too," Riven whispered. "I wish you were here."

"Turn around," Musa said before hanging up the phone.

"Musa," Riven questioned in bewilderment.

Quickly, she ran and jumped into his arms. He twirled her around before placing her on the ground.

"How, what, why?" Riven was baffled.

"Please, you think you are the only one who can do surprises? Don't be selfish," Musa winked.

 ** _I remember the days we spent together,_**  
 ** _Were not enough, it used to feel like dreaming_**

"This umbrella is definitely not big enough for the both of us," Musa observed the size. It was pouring down rain and there was only one umbrella, a very small umbrella. In fact, it was a child's sized umbrella.

"Here, you stay dry," Riven held the umbrella above Musa as they walked down the sidewalk.

Shaking her head, Musa stepped out from underneath it into the rain.

"Get back underneath there Musa Pennington. You're going to get sick,"

"Then I guess I get sick with you," Musa laughed, grabbing Riven's hand and pulling him around to dance in the rain.

 ** _Except we always woke up,_**  
 ** _Never thought not having you here now_**  
 ** _Would hurt so much_**

"I've don't want to go back to school tomorrow," Musa groaned.

"But you have too," Riven insisted.

"Well, I would rather stay here with you," Musa urged.

"Too bad, you have to go back to school. Besides, we will see each other for Spring Break."

"Fine... then tonight lets pretend this distance thing doesn't exist," Musa stated in affirmation.

"You're in luck. I know this really great Italian restaurant," Riven grabbed her hand and pulled her off the bed with him.

 ** _Tonight I've fallen and I can't get up_**  
 ** _I need your loving hands to come and pick me up_**  
 ** _And every night I miss you_**  
 ** _I can just look up_**  
 ** _And know the stars are_**  
 ** _Holding you, holding you, holding you_**  
 ** _Tonight_**

"Riven what am I going to do without my mom?" Musa choked back the tears that were falling down her face.

"I don't know," He whispered.

He held onto her throughout the night as she cried into his arms.

"I don't know where to go from here," She breathed.

"You will always have me," Riven hugged tighter.

 ** _I remember the time you told me_**  
 ** _About when you were eight_**  
 ** _And all those things you said that night_**  
 ** _That just couldn't wait_**

"Hi, I'm Musa," The seven year old proudly said.

"Riven," The boy turned his head away. Girls were gross.

"Want to play?" Musa stepped in front of him.

Smirking, the boy doubtfully said, "Depends, do you know how to catch a football?"

"Throw it and see," Seven year old Musa placed her hands on her hips. She leaned in, "I dare you."

He could be friends with a girl. Maybe.

 ** _I remember the car you were last seen in_**  
 ** _And the games we would play_**  
 ** _All the times we spilled our coffees_**  
 ** _And stayed out way too late_**

"So that's it huh, you're just going to drive away from me," Riven smirked at his girlfriend.

"Well I have to leave for college first you know,"

"Well I think you should climb over because you're going to have to take me with you."

"As if, you need to drive to your own university," Musa gave her boyfriend a peck on the cheek.

"Forget it, I'm coming with you... Besides, along the way there is this really good band you love, All Time Low, and I may have happened to get us meet and greets."

"No fucking way," Musa shouted.

"Whose the best boyfriend?"

"Forget college, we have a date," Musa started the engine as Riven climbed in the passenger seat and pulled out of her driveway towards the Gardenia Plaza Center.

 ** _I remember the time you sat and told me_**  
 ** _About your Jesus, and how not to look back_**

"Do you believe in God?" Riven pondered the question.

Pausing, Musa thought about his philosophical question. "I believe in something. Do you?"

"I believe in you... I believe in us."

"And I believe that there was someone who brought us together."

 _ **Even if no one believes us**_  
 _ **When it hurts so bad, sometimes**_  
 _ **Not having you here**_

Musa's voice faded out as she couldn't finish singing the song. Exasperated, she slouched down and burrowed her face into her hands and let out the remaining of the tears she was holding in. She was going to have to face reality and forget Riven and all of the memories that they shared together. No matter how bad the ache was in her chest, she was going to have to push through this and move on. As fate had it, they were not meant for each other and she finally knew that. This was the reality call that she had been waiting for since their last departure.

...

Meanwhile, Riven leaned against the doorway in the shadows, watching and listening keenly as Musa sang her heart out. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and leaned against the doorway for support.

He wanted to cry, he wanted to yell, and most of all, he wanted to swear. He wanted to raise his fists in the air for making life so difficult for them. He wanted to question God about his life plan and he wanted to console Musa. He wanted to beg for her forgiveness and he wanted to return to the time where they had a love so strong.

Instead, he turned around and walked away from the door. He walked away from the door because she didn't deserve this. She didn't need him and he knew that once she left his parents cabin, she would be able to move on.

* * *

I hope y'all enjoyed the small snippets of their old relationship. I thought it was a nice fluff to the heartbreak of this story right now.

Please review, I'd greatly appreciate it!


	15. Chapter XV

Hey everyone, I know how much you all like this story, but I am encouraging you all to go check out my other story **Another Heart Calls**. That story is probably equally as awesome as this one, if not more. I have a lot planned for it and I'd really appreciate it if you gave it the same support! It will end up as a MusaXRiven, so don't fret the couple pairing at the beginning. It's starting out quite slow, but once things get going, it's going to be grand.

As I wrote in my recent update for Another Heart Calls, which you all should check out, I have some good news and bad news. Good news, I am posting a new chapter :), bad news, I have deleted a lot of my older work. I am sorry to anyone who liked my older work, but when I read it, I cringe. I kept a few pieces of my older stuff. Also, any story that I did not feel that I was going to finish or I lost interest, I have also deleted.

Anyway, here is a brand new chapter to this. I am anticipating there is going to be about 5-6 very important chapters left. I bet you are all wondering how in the hell am I going to get the pair back together? Well my friends, I have ideas. Lots of ideas.

Thank you to my faithful, wonderful reviewers, y'all are fucking perfect: _MademoiselleEtincelle, Guest, xxx-benedictbrothersfan-xxx, wildlife1103, guest, shcwetz2002, MeltingLove, Lasting Violet, Smilez014, Guest, musaxriven-winx, S, xxxMusarockz, musariven fan, Evangella Akriti, Stellabrella Lover, Andrea, Pickles333, SplendidForever, Musa Lover, AlexisPeany, guest, and muriforever_.

Chapter XV

* * *

Musa laid on the couch and flipped through the television stations, trying to find a tolerable station. She didn't want to watch the news, she couldn't stomach another washed up Christmas movie, and she wasn't about to go shopping on the home network station. She was in a conundrum- she couldn't sleep, but she was exhausted. Her eyes burned, her stomach hurt, and her head was pounding.

Her attention shifted from the television when a shadow over stood her. She glanced up and her heart stopped beating for a second.

"Here," Riven stood over her, holding his arm out.

"What?" Her eyes hardened like glass.

"I brought you a blanket."

"I'd rather sleep without one. Who knows what you have done on that," Musa rolled over on the couch, facing the cushion.

"It's out here if you need it," Riven said in a soft voice. "I'll place it on the chair for you. Take it when you need it, okay?"

"Whatever," Musa snapped.

Riven placed the blanket on the chair. He was going to walk away and return to his room, however, something inside of him wouldn't let him. He needed to talk to her. "Musa, I said I'm sorry, I don't what more I can say," Riven tried pleading with her. He was exhausted and he had nothing else to say. Besides, there was nothing else that he could say to help diffuse the situation.

She quickly rolled over onto her other side and sat up. Her eyes narrowed at him and she spat, "Have you thought that I don't want you to say anything?"

He took her harsh words, for he deserved them. He shoved his hands in his shorts pockets and slid his foot back and forth across the carpet.

"I'm sorry," He said again.

"Would you stop saying that," Musa growled. She wanted nothing more from him.

"Well I want you to know how sorry I actually am," Riven snapped. "I've been laying in there for the last three hours trying to figure out what to say to you and the only thing I could think of was to bring a blanket out here for you because you might get cold. So here I am, still thinking of you," Riven breathed. He ran his hand through his hair and let out a loud breath before sitting down on the couch next to Musa.

She let out a laugh- it was more of a sarcastic, ironic laugh. "You're thinking of me? Now you choose to think of me. Two years later, you start to 'think of me'? Did you think of me earlier when you were getting busy with Darcy in there," Musa snapped.

"I'll have you know that it did not go that far," Riven said sternly. After a few moments of silence, he softened his voice and tried looking at Musa in the face. It hurt when she wouldn't even look at him. "Again, I'm sorry okay. I don't want us to end on bad terms. We had such a good time here and I want us to stay friends," Riven pleaded.

"Friends? You want us to be friends," Musa stood up, almost yelling. Here she was again for the second time tonight yelling and fighting with Riven.

"I'm going home in the morning. There is no friends, there is no us, there is no anything. You have no right to call me your friend. A friend wouldn't do this to me. And to think that I almost missed you and wanted you back after this trip. I'm never, ever, making that mistake again," Musa hissed.

"This is Goodbye Riven," The words poured right out of her mouth. She turned her head away from Riven and stared out the window.

"I said goodbye," Musa snapped once again when she realized Riven did not get up from the couch.

"Okay, Goodbye Musa." Riven slowly said. He stood up and slowly walked towards the door frame. He turned his head back and observed the sad girl watch aimlessly out the window. "Musa, I want you to know, I am sorry," Riven stated before walking away.

Musa kept repeating his words in her head. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Time felt like it was endless. The seconds ticked away, time flickered away, and before Musa knew it, it was after midnight. She yawned, but she wasn't tired. Her heart was racing too quickly for her to go to sleep.

Sighing, she pulled out her cell phone. She didn't know why she was so nervous to make this phone call. Maybe she was nervous for the response she was going to get, or the I told you so's or the sympathy. In all honesty, she wanted none of that. She wanted to leave and officially move on with her life. However, it was difficult to do so when you are stuck at a log cabin in the middle of nowhere on Christmas.

Slowly, she dialed Stella's number and brought the phone to her ear. The phone trilled three times before she heard the characteristic of a click to answer the phone. A small, nervous smile tugged at the corner of her lips. She really needed her best friend during this time of need. Even in the darkest of times, Stella could make her feel better.

"Stella," Musa cried out in desperation.

"Ahh, sorry Muse, she's asleep, she has been extra tired from the baby," Brandon answered.

Musa bit her lip and frowned "Oh okay."

Sensing the tone of her voice, Brandon questioned, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, of course. Just wanted to talk to her is all."

"Why do I feel like you're lying," He stated in concern.

Sighing, Musa spoke into the phone, "Everything is okay. I hope you two had a good Christmas," Musa tried diverting the conversation in another direction. Maybe if she could get Brandon on another topic, she could escape talking to him.

Unfortunately, Brandon knew better than her antics. "Christmas was good, but do you want to tell me why you're calling Musa Pennington? It's after midnight. I highly doubt that you want to talk to her about our Christmas. We did absolutely nothing today other than open gifts and lounge around the house."

 _Damn, he used the last name_. "Sounds like a good Christmas to me," Musa tried joking. They must have had a way better Christmas than she was having.

"Musa," Brandon said in a soft voice.

"Brandon," Musa closed her eyes and breathed. She took a few deep breaths, diverting the tears away. If she thought about it again, she would start crying and his sympathetic voice wasn't helping either.

"Musa, you can tell me anything. We have been great friends for years now. Besides, if I tell Stella tomorrow that you called me upset and I didn't find out why, her pregnant hormones are going to force her to kill me. I'd rather live a little longer in my life if I can help it.

Musa let out a soft laugh. She was sure Stella was quite the hormonal pregnant woman.

"His fiance showed up and she is here now," Musa cried into the phone. She gasped and placed her hand over her mouth. Saying it out loud made her want to vomit again.

That statement alone was enough for Brandon to piece a few things together. She didn't need to go into further detail about what was going on.

"I'm on my way to come get you," Brandon quickly stated.

"Brandon, no, it's Christmas. Spend it with your family," Musa quickly ushered her friend not to come get her. She was okay, really. She would survive until the morning to get a cab.

"No, I'm on my way. I'm not leaving you there to swim with the sharks. I know where his family's cabin is, I've been there a few times with him when we all hung out, and I can be there in an hour," Brandon said into the phone.

"Brandon," Musa tried haggling with her friend.

"Musa, I'll be there in an hour and besides, Stella is sleeping. We aren't missing any family time. So don't worry, I'll be there soon," Brandon stated.

"Okay," Musa hung up the phone and closed her eyes.

...

It seemed as if everyone in the house had fallen asleep or at least went to bed, excluding Musa. She received a text from Brandon stating he was almost at the Harrington cabin. She wrapped her scarf around her neck, and pulled her suitcase behind her towards the entrance of the cabin.

Before leaving the house, she placed two letters onto the table, one addressed to Riven and the other addressed to his family. She at least owed them a goodbye and she was too scared to give them one tonight.

She walked over to the door and rocked back and forth on her heels to her boots as she waited for Brandon's arrival.

"Are you leaving without saying goodbye?" A voice spoke up and startled Musa as she reached for the door knob. Slowly, she turned around and saw Riven's parents and Grandma Faragonda standing in the kitchen.

"I uhh-" Musa froze. What was she supposed to say? Thanks for letting me stay, but I am bailing without saying goodbye. It was an overall awkward situation and she didn't want the goodbye to hurt even more.

"It's okay dear, we understand," Lisa softly said. "At least give us a hug before you leave," Lisa expressed her concerned. She walked over to Musa and wrapped her arms around her frail body.

"I'm sorry," Musa let out a shaky breath. She felt the tears well up in the corner of her eyes. What was she supposed to say?

"Please don't be sorry, it's us who should be sorry. I invited you here and caused you all of this pain. If I would have known that he was coming home for the winter Musa, I would have never put you through this," Lisa hugged tighter. Musa nodded her head and let the tears in the corner of her eyes fall.

"I know," She mumbled.

"You're welcome to spend time with us anytime you want. I want you to know that," Lisa pulled away from the hug and placed her hand on Musa's face. She wiped away the tears with her thumbs. Musa smiled softly- that was the same mannerism that her own mother used to do whenever she was upset.

"You're always going to be my daughter, you know that right?" Lucas was next to pull her into a hug. She buried her head into his chest and she nodded her head up and down. "No one can replace you," He whispered into her ear before she pulled away.

Last person to hug, "Musa, my dear," Grandma Faragonda hugged her tightly. "Someday, you two will end up together, I know so. You are soulmates. But for right now, you have to be you and he has to be him. When time is right, you will be brought together again. I'm going to miss you Musa and if I don't see you again, I want you to know you have always been my favorite."

Musa released her grip on Grandma Faragonda and pulled away. She stared at the two people who were practically her parents. Even when her own parents were alive, they were her second set. The thought of never seeing them again was just as devastating as her and Riven's goodbye.

"Thank you for everything, I love you all," Musa said her farewell. Head lights emerged in front of the cabin and she reached for the door handle and pulled it open. She was embraced with a gust of cold air. The cold air hit her face, instantly numbing her nose.

"Goodbye," She whispered and gave a small wave before exiting the Harrington cabin the last time. She closed the door behind her- she was not looking back now.

Slowly, she trudged through the snow towards Brandon's SUV. She heaved one last sigh before she was greeted by Brandon's presence. Instead of saying anything, he just pulled Musa into a hug. She wrapped her arms around his waste and let out a few tears fall from her eyes.

"Hey," He whispered into her ear.

"Hey," Musa grimly responded back.

"Lets get you home," He pulled away from their hug. Quickly, he took her suitcase and tossed into the backseat. Musa climbed into the passenger seat while Brandon climbed into the driver's seat.

"I turned the heated seats on for you," He calmly said.

"Thanks," Musa mumbled. She leaned her head on the side of the car window and stared at the view in front of her. Her gaze remained on the Harrington Cabin as Brandon drove away from it. She took in the Christmas lights, the snow topped on the trees, the lopsided snowman, the large Christmas tree accented with a variety of lights and ornaments sitting in front of the bay window, and the Christmas decorations in the window, one last time.

And one last time, she saw Riven in the bedroom window, watching her from afar. She locked eyes with Riven and they stared intently into each other's eyes before Musa disappeared into the array of trees.

* * *

I'm sorry this was a very short chapter. It is a lot shorter than what you all are used too. But this chapter is definitely necessary to continue with the next segment of this chapter is going to focus specifically on Riven, Riven's family, and Darcy. Musa will not be in the next chapter.

I'll try and update as soon as possible. Please review and check out my other story Another Heart Calls.

Thanks again for your endless support.


	16. Chapter XVI

How is everyone doing? I'm sorry I've waited to update this so long. I've been really busy and my time has been limited. Anyway, as usual, my readers and reviewers are always spectacular.

Thank you: _Lasting Violet, Guest, Muri forever, Guest, MademoiselleEtincelle, Ihatedarcy, ash813, musariven fan, Guest, Guest, Pickless333, Guest, A Ship Out Of The Harbor, Smilez014, & SplendidForever. _

Just a note, there are only five chapters left after this one. I bet you are all wondering how I can wrap this story up in only five more chapters. Just read to find out ;)

P.S. this chapter is a shorter one.

Chapter XVI

* * *

Something inside of Riven made him want to run outside, grab her arm and never let go of it. But instead, he watched Brandon wrap his arms around her, give her a hug, and together, the two drove away from his cabin. His eyes followed the vehicle until he could no longer see the tail lights. The trees swallowed it whole and all he was left with was one last bad memory which left a sour taste in his mouth.

He started out his window until his stomach would no longer allow him to look outside. He couldn't look at Darcy who was sound asleep in his bed, the same bed that Musa slept in two nights ago.

As tired as he was, rest was not an option. Gathering all of his courage, he stood up and prodded towards the bedroom door. He was about to face his parents and their look of disappointment was always the most painful.

Slowly he walked along the hallway until he wandered into the kitchen to find his family-mom, dad, and grandma- seated around the wooden table. They were drinking coffee out of ceramic cups and sitting in the silence.

Relentlessly, he reached over the counter and grabbed the coffee pot and poured himself some fresh coffee. He wondered if he stared into his coffee mug the entire morning if it would have the answers to the rest of his life. After a few seconds of staring at his brewed drink, he averted his gaze towards his parents. In an almost creepy manner, they eyed him intently. He needed coffee to deal with this mess. Sighing, he brought the mug to his lips and let the coffee burn down his throat before pulling a chair next to his father at the table.

There was a long, pregnant, pause of silence between the Harrington family.

"Riven," Lisa softly began. She wasn't quite sure where to begin.

Quickly, Riven turned towards his mother and gave her a distinctive look. "Please don't. You don't have to tell me anything I don't already feel okay?" His voice was firm and tense.

Riven looked back into the cup of coffee that was resting on the table in front of him. He was hoping that the cup would swallow him whole and he would not have to deal with the rest of the world.

"Is this what you want?" Lucas asked his son. He had always taught his sons to do the right thing... but most importantly follow their heart.

Riven shrugged his shoulders. "Doesn't matter. The damage is already done. I can't take back whatever happened yesterday or what happened two years ago."

"No, but you can fix it," Lisa hopefully encouraged him.

Riven let out a subtle laugh. "No, no I can't. I'm marrying Darcy and that's that. You are just going to have to get used to Darcy being around because she is my future. Musa was and is still my past. I don't know why either of us thought this past week was a good thing. It just brought up old wounds that neither of us are past. We had some fun and relived our younger years, but it was just temporary. What Darcy and I have is real and it's realistically what's going to happen. You guys can either support me or don't come to my wedding."

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Lisa could see the hesitancy... the uneasy look in his eyes.

Lifting his head up, he responded firmly. "Yeah, I'm positive."

"Musa left you a note. Do you want to read it?" Lisa passed the hand-written note to Riven.

"Maybe," Riven took the note and clenched it for the rest of the morning in his fist.

Riven spent the next few hours catching up with his parents and his grandmother. They shared family stories, talked politics, talked about his work situation, and planned for the future. He sure did miss spending time with his family. When he did he become so self-oriented?

It was either the lack of sleep or too much caffeine. The effect of both was leaving him with a weird, unsettling feeling. He was starting to wonder why he even moved away from home. _He missed this. He missed them. He missed her._

Before falling asleep on the couch, he sat in front of the fire place. He stared into the flames, until the drowsiness kicked in. Slowly, he extended his arm and tossed the note into the burning flames and watched it disintegrate, until there was nothing left.

If he read it, he might want her back. If he read it, it might change things. If he read it, it would kill him.

...

Riven awoke to the sound of someone shuffling through the room. Slowly, he opened his sleepy eyes. Standing across the room was his father, searching through the array of gifts and wrapping paper.

"What time is it?" Riven fought back the yawn that was tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Sorry, I figured you would be up and packing, not sleeping," Lucas teased his son.

"Whatever," Riven grumbled.

"I actually came here to find one of your mother's gifts. She wants to wear the new necklace I got her, but she doesn't remember where she put it," Lucas rolled his eyes. He continued shifting through the assortment of paper, gifts, and giftbags.

"You guys do this every year," Riven grumbled, running his hand through his messy hair.

"And that's exactly what I love about your mom," Lucas answered affirmatively.

"You say that every year," Riven mumbled before closing his eyes once again. He was in the process of falling asleep until Musa appeared in his mind. The last words she said to him echoed throughout his mind, "This is goodbye Riven." Her voice was strong, it was dominating, and it was suffocating. His heart began to race and he opened his eyes.

Rolling over to face the sunlight, Riven realized how frustrated with the world he actually was.

* * *

"Riven, you look tired," Layla said in between nibbling on a strip of bacon.

"It's not exactly been the week," Riven commented. Between his rendezvous with Musa, Darcy showing up unexpectedly at his parents, the emotional tumult he was immersed in with Musa, and the rising conflict with his work, he had his fill.

"Maybe you should lay back down dear," Lisa responded. "You're going to need the energy to deal with your company. It's going to be a long few days."

Like a young adult, Riven tossed his head back and let out a rough groan. "Please don't remind me."

"Are you close to being packed up?" Roy was the next to question him.

"Yeah just about. My flight leaves from the airport in two and a half hours," Riven shrugged noncommittally.

"Your flight leaves in two and a half hours and you aren't even fully packed? Why are you even still here? Don't you have to be at the airport two hours prior to your departure? It takes at least an hour to get to the airport from here," Layla frantically stated. She then gave him a bewildered look. Her brother-in-law could be the most irresponsible person she knew.

Reaching across the table and grabbing another bacon strip, Riven rolled his eyes. "It's a private plane, so it really isn't leaving with me or Darcy. But I guess I should go finish getting ready. Since I have a longer flight back, I will rest up on the plane."

"While you are getting ready, let me make you a snack basket to take with you. We have plenty of Christmas cookies and snacks to send back with you," Lisa said enthusiastically. She stood up from

"Mom that really isn't necessary," Riven began- However, Lisa cut him off.

"Of course this is necessary. I don't want my youngest son to starve to death," Lisa said while wandering around the kitchen, pulling out cookies and different assorted snacks.

"Okay, while you are making sure I don't die of starvation, I am going to finish packing my suitcase." Riven walked away from his family towards the bedroom.

"Hey," He said to Darcy once he was in his bedroom.

"Hey babe," She smiled. "I am about ready to go. I just have to make a phone call to my parents before we leave. They are on vacation, so they called me while we were asleep. The time difference is really getting to them," She smiled.

"I'll be back okay?" Darcy walked around the bed and pecked Riven on his cheek before walking out of the room.

As Darcy departed the room, Riven walked around it. He stared around his room- everything reminded him of Musa. The room smelt like her perfume, her notes and other items were still resting in his drawers, her images danced around the photo frames throughout the room... her presence was still in the room. He needed to get out of there. It was purely agonizing.

"Okay, I think I have everything packed in my suitcase. I just need to find my wallet," Riven yelled across the hall to Darcy who was talking to her parents.

Riven scooped the handle of his suitcase and lifted it out of the room. He closed the door behind him and hopefully he would never have to open it again.

"Dad, have you seen my wallet?" Riven questioned once he approached his parents in the living room. He hadn't seen it in a few days actually.

Lucas wrinkled his eyebrows, trying to recall where he had seen it last. "Oh yes, it is out in the truck."

"Oh that makes sense, I must have left it in there when we went to the village a few days ago," Riven muttered to himself. In a quick motion, he slid boots on his feet and whirled one of the parkas onto his body and made his way outside towards the truck. Brushing the snow off of the window and the handle, he opened the door. Peaking inside, he spotted his wallet in the cupholder. Leaning over his seat, he grabbed his wallet and tucked into his pants pocket.

Right before he closed the door, a shiny wrapped package sat and a bag caught his eye.

"I forgot about this," Riven said to no one. Sighing, he opened the backseat door and climbed into the seat of the truck. With all of the events occurring, he forgot about the package the old man gave him and Musa. They were supposed to open it on Christmas together. He closed his eyes for a quick moment and squeezed them together. Yesterday morning seemed light-years ago.

His eyes first went to the bag. Musa left her ornament in the vehicle. He stuck his hands in the bag and felt the padding around the ornament. He unwrapped it slightly, checking on its stature. Surprisingly, the ornament was not broken. He thought it would have been due to the incredibly cold temperatures. He would have to ask his mother to drop it off at Musa's father's house when they return home to Gardenia.

His eyes wandered back to the large gift package. Since Musa was not here to open the gift, he had to open it by himself. He contemplated on not opening it, however, he owed it to Harold.

Without hesitating even further, he quickly tore open the gift package. Within the package were several containers of assorted chocolates, homemade teas, candles, a bottle of homemade wine, and other homemade candies from Harold's store.

"Musa can have this stuff," Riven said to no one other than himself. Since she loved the village and Harold's store, it was best fit that she have the gift package. He would talk to his mom about dropping the package, along with her ornament, off at her father's house.

Before exiting the truck, he saw a note tucked into the side of the basket. He rubbed his hands together before grabbing the envelope. Quickly, he tore the envelope open and withdrew the piece of paper from it. In loopy, scripted letters, the letter stated:

 _Merry Christmas Riven and Musa._

 _I hope you find the contents in this basket quite useful to you. My wife's favorite Christmas consisted of homemade chocolates, candies, teas, a great smelling candle, and a bottle of homemade Chardonnay. I hope you enjoy this as much as we did when we were younger. These items always make for the best Christmas._

 _I know I've said this before, but you two remind me of my wife and I when we were younger. We had so many dreams, hope, and love for one another. I hope you two continue to share the same bond with one another. A love like yours is once in a life time._

 _I do not have any family left and I do not have any children or grandchildren. Since I do not have much time left, I wanted to let you know I am leaving you two the business here at the village. My lawyers will be in contact with the two of you after the first of the year. Thank you for being the grandchildren I never had._

 _I know you will take good care of the business._

 _Have a wonderful Christmas,_

 _Love Harold_

"Wow," Riven took a deep breath and leaned back into the seat of the truck, gripping the letter tightly in his hands. What did this mean for him and Musa now?

* * *

As Riven fished for his wallet out in the truck, Darcy took this opportunity to answer a reoccurring phone call.

"Babe," She answered quickly into the phone.

"I'm ready to come back to you... It was so exhausting to be here... This family is ridiculous," Darcy whined.

As she listened the deep voice, she sat on the couch, crossed her leg over the other and examined her nails.

"Baltar, take a deep breath. We have rehearsed this plan for awhile now. Riven has no idea that it was me who helped you-nobody does. I will help get you out of this mess, just let me get back on Riven's good side. Like we discussed, I will plant the evidence on his computer and in his office. It will only take a few days and then he will be blamed for the embezzlement of money, not you. He will go to jail and not you."

"It was quite easy actually. I showed up at his doorstep, begging him back. After awhile, he just caved in..." Darcy responded humorously.

"Please, he actually thinks I want to get back together. As soon as I got here, he pretty much got rid of that girlfriend of his. She was gone quicker than it took me to get here. All I want is you," Darcy purred into the phone.

"I love you too baby. Trust me, this plan will work out. With her out of the picture, he is a sad, naive, puppy. This couldn't be easier," Darcy's let out a sharp, piercing laugh that echoed throughout the loft.

Little did Darcy know, Techna was standing outside the doorway, listening to the whole conversation.

* * *

Right when you have forgotten all about the Christmas basket from Harold in Chapter 8... it returns. What does this mean for Riven and Musa?

And Baltor and Darcy? Did somebody say Plot Twist?

Uh-oh, Techna heard Darcy's conversation...

Also, I didn't proofread this chapter before I posted it because I am extremely tired. Since I am extremely tired (and did I mention sick? I have been fighting this awful respiratory infection) I will proofread this tomorrow and fix any mistakes needed.

Thank you again for being wonderful fucking readers.

So c'mon and share your thoughts/comments/ideas in the review forum.


	17. Chapter XVII

Hello everyone,

It's been quite some time... To everyone still reading, reviewing, and following this story, thank you for taking the time to bare with me. It's been awhile since I've updated.

Thank you _Muri, Stylesiscoming, Lasting Violet, LoverOfAllThingsCrazy, Guest, Guest, ash813, Guest, thisnewstar, MeltingLove, MademoiselleEtincelle, Melting Love, xxxMusarockz, Pickles333, cherry156, curious, onelittlegirl, Guest, and AlexisPeaney_. Y'all's reviews are quite wonderful/fantastic.

There are four chapters left after this one.

Chapter XVII.

* * *

Musa sat on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket, staring into the abyss of the flames that emerged from the fireplace. She didn't know if her eyes were watery because she had been staring at the fire for a long period of time or because she was upset.

"Hey I brought you some hot chocolate," A higher pitched voice emerged from the shadows of the room.

Turning her head, Musa smiled softly. "Thanks Stella," She said as she took the warm cup from her friend's hands.

Musa eyed the cup of coffee before letting out a hearty laugh. "You kept these terrible cups we made in pottery class in high school?"

Giving her friend a taken back look, Stella scoffed, "Of course. Didn't you?"

"No," Musa rolled her eyes at her friend. "I donated them to the first Good Will I could find."

"I'm appalled, I worked so hard on these cups," Stella joked.

"So how're you doing?" She asked sympathetically, while being affirmative in her question. She knew that Musa was a very secluded person and it was going to be hard to get her to tell her the truth and not beat around the busy. A frustrating quality of her friend at that.

Taking a drink of the liquid, Musa shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not really for sure... I talked to Brandon about this last night when we returned. He really is a saint for picking me up. I think I would have died of suffocation if I would have had to stay in that house any longer."

Stella nodded her head, agreeing with her friend. "We would never leave you hanging."

"It's weird. I feel incredibly upset and my heart hurts so bad that I think it could break any moment, but I also feel a sensation of relief. I finally know what happened two and a half years ago."

"And what exactly happened?" Stella pressed further.

"During his internship, Riven started dating Darcy while dating me. He had been dating Darcy during my mother's death. When I needed him, he was too busy with her. It's such a relief knowing that I didn't do something. It was Riven and not me. But I'll be okay, I'm sure of it," Musa forced a twisted smile onto her lips.

"Hey, just think, he's marrying a horrendous woman. He will realize that someday and by the time that happens, you will be long gone," Stella smiled placing a comforting hand on her friend's arm.

"I just thought I'd have my life together by now. I thought I'd be doing something successful, being with someone successful... just something," Musa exclaimed, leaning back into the plush couch. "But here I am, nothing is going the way I imagined."

"Well you're Musa Pennington and you're going to get back out there and figure things out. I know you will," Stella encouraged.

"Yeah I now, that's what people really keep telling me," Musa sighed out of frustration.

"Do you remember my freshman year of college when Brandon and I broke up? He started dating Mitzi, my mortal enemy."

"Yeah? Hard to forget," Musa started to chuckle, but quickly stopped when her pregnant friend glared at her.

"It took me a long time to get over that moment. I had to work on myself and heal myself before we could get back together and I'm really glad I took the time to do so," Stella stated.

"I know, you went to Europe to study abroad," Musa reminded her friend."You left me," Musa emphasized.

"That distance really healed me. I was able to focus on myself and my flaws and what I wanted out of my life and my relationships with others," Stella smiled reassuringly at her friend.

Wrinkling her eyebrows together, Musa asked, "So you think I should go to Europe?"

"I think you should start healing, from both Andy and Riven and if that means going to Europe, then yes," Stella rationalized. "You need fresh air from all of the hurt you have been enduring."

"Thanks for the comfort. I think I might try and go get some sleep in your guestroom, it's been a long morning," Musa hugged her friend before wandering to the guest room. Every step she took, her heart ached a little more.

* * *

"Musa, honey, how was your Christmas?" Her gruff father asked her while pulling her into a hug.

Musa smiled at her father's embrace. She had left Stella's house the next day and had spent the last few days shacking up in her apartment, watching movies and soaking up the silence to herself.

Smiling to distract her father from her real feelings, "It was great. The Harringtons were very accommodating."

"Did you see that Riven boy?"

Musa frowned before responding, "Yeah I did. He's good, he told me to pass along the message to you."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, Mrs. Harrington left this here for you." After conversing with her father and his girlfriend Shelia, she stared at the gift package and ornaments that rested in the corner of their living room. What was once an adoration towards Italian glass and chocolates, was now angst.

"I'm going to leave these in my room and come back and get them later," Musa stood up, her legs shaky.

"Dear, you look flushed. Are you okay?" Shelia's soft voice echoed through the room.

Musa turned around, a reassuring smile on her face. "Of course, I just cannot eat another piece of chocolate. Please eat them if you wish. I'm so full from all of the sweets I've consumed over the last two weeks."

"Ahh that reminds me Musa, when you do want sweets, I have Swiss chocolate for you," Her father commented.

Musa spent the rest of the night listening to her father's stories while she stared into the fire place, watching her life unfold in front of her.

* * *

Musa rolled over, wincing at the alarm clock. It was 6:30 in the morning. She sighed, picking up her phone off of her nightstand for the first time in awhile.

.

.

.

You have six new messages. First voice message.

Musa, it's Stella, I'm calling to check in. I need to know that you're okay. Love you.

Next voice message...

Musa it's Stella again, I haven't heard from you in two days and you haven't returned my last call. I know you're upset, but please call me when you get a chance.

Next voice message...

Musa, this is Brandon, it's been six days since we have last heard from you. You should really answer us back. I do not think I can handle Stella when she gets like this. Do you hear her yelling in the background? Call us back.

Next voice message...

Hi sweety, this is Flora. Stella called me and filled me in what is going on. You should really call one of us back. We are all worried about you.

Next voice message...

Musa Melody Pennington, so help me God if you do not call me back. I will kick down your door. Bye.

Next voice message...

Hey Muse, Stella called me. She sounded concerned and thought maybe I should reach out to you. Call me back, love you always.

End of new messages.

Musa sighed, tossing her phone into the abyss of her pool of duvet covers. She stared into the ceiling, hoping it would serve her as some kind of relief. She had been hiding in her apartment so long that she had lost track of what day it was. She hadn't left in what she guessed was two weeks other than to get a few groceries. It had been awhile since she had even seen the day light. In part, she blamed the abundance of snow fall that had accrued over the last few days. Since she was unemployed, she had no desire to get out of bed or venture outside.

Slowly, she pulled her body out of bed. She frowned at her body's stiffness and proceeded to head towards the kitchen. She nitpicked at the stale muffin and drank a glass of nearly expired milk.

Sighing, she looked outside her window, frowning to see more snow. She pulled her robe closer to her body and ventured back into her room and laid back in bed. For now, she was contempt with going back to sleep.

.

.

.

Two hours later, Musa rolled over exhaling a loud groan. The sunlight filtered through her curtains, blinding her in her state of sleepiness. She took one of her extra pillows, put it over her face and thought about what happened if she smothered herself with it... She wasn't suicidal or crazy; she was just heartbroken and miserable.

After several minutes of silence, Musa started to fall asleep until her phone vibrated, waking her from her near sleep experience.

"For the love of," Musa pulled her arm from underneath her covers, found her phone after a frantic search through her covers, and threw it against the wall, satisfying when it fell into her cloth laundry basket. She hadn't even bothered to check to see who was trying to contact her; probably Stella, Brandon, or Flora. Despite the distance, she could hear the vibrations echo through the basket.

She eventually fell asleep to the muffled vibrations coming from her laundry basket.

.

.

.

It had been a long few days and Musa was tired of watching movies. She had no more tears left to cry and she had no more energy to wallow in her room. Sighing, she stood up, walking towards the shower.

If she could shower today, she was victorious.

For the first time since she had left the Harringtons, Musa looked hard at herself in the mirror. She frowned, noticing the dark circles that framed her once doe eyes. She always wore her expressions on her face, and she couldn't even lie to herself that she wasn't affected by the last few week's events.

* * *

"Musa, I'm going to murder you... slowly and painfully..." The blonde spat out as she jabbed the end button so hard, she hurt her finger. She dropped her phone onto the table and pressed her face to her hands. That was the 6th time Musa's phone went to voicemail.

Frowning, Brandon asked the daunting question, "No luck?"

Biting her lip, Stella sighed, "No she's not. It's been 8 days since she had returned our calls. I don't even know if she's even alive at this point," Stella exclaimed. "She better hope somebody else has murdered her because the next time we talk, she's going to wish she called me back."

"Maybe we should go to her place?" Brandon suggested. With traffic, it was about a forty minute drive to her place. "We can bng pots and pans outside her door until she opens it?" Brandon laughed while his wife rolled in her eyes, clearly not amused.

"But seriously, you don't have a key to her place?" He asked surprised.

Stella's eyes lit up in realization - "I do have a spare key to Musa's place. You're a genius Brandon. Why didn't we think of this earlier?" Stella exclaimed in excitement.

...

"Musa, Musa, Musa, Musa, MUSA PENNINGTON, answer your door," Stella shouted out in the hallway to her friend's place, banging her hand repeatedly on her friend's door.

"What are you doing?" An elder woman stepped outside of her apartment, glaring at the young couple.

"I'm trying to make sure my friend is not dead," Stella growled at the older woman and continued pounding on the door while yelling, "I brought you coffee Musa, c'mon answer already.

"What she means to see is that we are sorry and once we find out if our friend is okay, we will stop shouting," Brandon corrected while saving face with the old woman.

"Musa, please let me in," Stella shouted. After a few seconds of waiting for her friend, Stella sighed, pulling out her friend's key from her pants pocket. "You gave me choice to do this," She put the key into the lock and slowly turned it. When she opened the apartment door, the apartment was black with a small amount of light streaming in through the broken blinds.

"Musa," Stella called out into the hollow apartment.

"I don't think she's here," Brandon responded as his girlfriend roamed Musa's place.

Turning her head, Stella asked, "Why do you say that?"

"She left you this note," Brandon help up a piece of paper.

Written in Musa's loopy script, " _Stella, I went to see him._ "

Stella smiled in affirmation. "She knew we would stop by."

* * *

There are four chapters left. I bet you are all wondering how this will come to full circle (it will). Just so you know, the next chapter is going to be a time jump... and we are going to see the characters progress.

Anyway, thank you again to all of my reviewers who have been reading this story and encouraging me to update.

Please review. Always appreciated.

-LightingUpTheeSky.


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